Battlefield 2042 Map Design Improvements Announced

Battlefield 2042 has quite a few map design changes in the works, according to a DICE blog post. DICE identified five map issues it wants to improve, including Traversal, Intensity, Line of Sight, Paths, and Cover. On all of these design elements, DICE wants player feedback to help guide the direction of changes.

• Traversal--Addressing players' complaints that the game feels like a "walking simulator" because of the large distance between Flags, DICE aims to position Base Spawn and Flags to improve gameplay experience.
• Intensity--DICE identified Breakthrough 128 player modes as potentially being too chaotic, especially with the number of players and vehicles. The devs are "reviewing if it makes sense to keep Breakthrough as 128 players vs 64, or if we feel that a reduction of the total number of vehicles that can spawn ensures that their presence isn’t as overwhelming."
• Line of Sight--Referring to how often players get targeted from enemies at a distance, Line of Sight design improvements will create more obstacles to hide behind. "We feel, and have heard from you, that there are presently too many open and flat spaces on some of our maps," DICE said. The long-term goal is to also reduce the prevalence of long-range combat.
• Paths--DICE also plans to create more defined paths between objectives in order to keep the gameplay "combat focused."
• Cover--Related to the Line of Sight issue, DICE wants to add more places to duck enemy fire and reduce wide open spaces where necessary.

These are ambitious map design tweaks, and DICE stated that it will not be able to implement these changes across all maps at the same time. While DICE has already incorporated the aforementioned map design qualities in new maps under development, it will start with updating old maps in order of need. DICE will start with Kaleidoscope on Conquest and Breakthrough modes, with the new Kaleidoscope map slated to arrive just in time for Season One.

DICE emphasized multiple times throughout the blogpost that it's looking for player feedback, so if you've got a lot of thoughts about how gameplay can be improved--now is your chance to shine.

Since launch, EA's Battlefield 2042 has undergone a turbulent release. Players noted the amount of bugs present and were overall dissatisfied with the experience, going so far as to launch a petition asking for a refund on the game. However, DICE has actively been working on implementing changes, with the latest update aimed to improve gameplay balance. Season One has also been delayed due to DICE needing to make "some big decisions" regarding Battlefield 2042's live-service support, and it will now likely come out in early Summer 2022.