Battlefield 2042 Features US-Russia Proxy War

Battlefield 2042 may not have a single-player campaign this year, but that doesn't mean that the game won't have some interesting lore to uncover and explore when it arrives later this year. Set in a near-future world where extreme climate change resulted in governments collapsing, hundreds of millions of deaths, and mass global displacement as bands of survivors have become known as the Non-Patriated or "No-Pats" for short.

In a new multi-part series ahead of the upcoming Exodus short film debut on August 12, EA is exploring the locations of Battlefield 2042 through short stories that detail the proxy war fought by the US against Russia. With both sides blaming the other for the catastrophic damage done to the global satellite network after a space debris storm occurs, the use of No-Pat specialists is seen as a way to maintain plausible deniability by the remaining superpowers.

The story starts with journalist Kayvan Bechir investigating the Oz No-Pat faction and running afoul of the authorities in Qatar. Like the rest of the world, climate change has left the country wrecked, its oil fields depleted and iconic LED skyline all but buried by the desert sands.

Battlefield 2042 launches on October 15 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, and an open beta in September will give players an early taste of what's coming. One of the big features in the game will be the new Portal mode, which you can read more about in our Battlefield 2042 preview.