During yesterday’s EA Play Live, the mega gaming company revealed an all-new and pretty exciting new feature in the long-running series called Battlefield Portal. This interesting new way to experience the franchise and will be part of Battlefield 2042 when it is released in October. The tl;dr of the entire showcase for Portal is that it is a community-driven multiplayer sandbox that allows players to make, share, and play custom game modes. We know what you’re thinking: This is going to use a game editor. But here’s the kicker: It isn’t.
Portal incorporates aspects of some of the franchise’s greatest games including BF 1942, BF: Bad Company 2, and BF3 as well as content that will be coming with BF 2042. Players will be using the Battlefield Builder tool where they can customize the rules for each match, mix maps, choose armies/weapons/gadgets/vehicles, select game objectives, tweak team sizes, and much more. According to Polygon, it’s “much more than just a series of checkboxes and sliders”. Builders can even alter gameplay rules at a scripting level without having to understand the process itself. This should allow for some wild and wooly experiences for those who play these custom maps.
Interestingly, those who’d like to use Battlefield Builder can do so without even owning any of the games. The tool will be a free standalone product that anyone can use to create a custom map and then share it with others via a special code.
Portal will include some basic maps from the get-go including Battle of the Bulge, El Alamein, Arica Harbor, Valparaiso, Caspian Border, and Noshahr Canals. These maps have been lovingly recreated using EA’s Frostbyte Engine so all of the performance enhancements players expect will be present.b
Check out the Battlefield Portal official site to learn more.
