Battlefield 2042 gets update 3.3 and Dice talks about the future of the maps
Hey everyone! Dice has released update 3.3 for Battlefield 2042, with features like the much-requested scoreboard finally being added to the game. This update follows last week’s announcement covering their plans for the future of the maps of 2042, with a special focus on Kaleidoscope. That announcement covered 5 main topics surrounding the maps that Dice is focusing on for season one’s release this summer. Additionally, VoIP has been promised for their next update which is presently scheduled for an early April release. In this video, I will go over all the changes that were released with update 3.3 as well as give a brief overview of their plans for the maps and 2042 heading into the future.
Update 3.3 was released on March 8th and I would be lying if I didn’t say I was a bit disappointed in the limited offering after about a month and a half of no updates. This iteration drops with a newly refreshed scoreboard, which thanks to player feedback includes a separate leaderboard for each team, player deaths, score with individual breakdowns, as well as the original match summary from pre-patch. Dice has emphasized that this is not the final scoreboard and that it will continue to evolve with player feedback. This update also provides a shortlist of bug fixes, which include the following:
Fixed a game crash that could occur on Origin or Xbox One when signing in/out while using an Xbox One controller
Setting “Chat” Key Bindings no longer requires a game restart to take effect
Adjusted Aim Assist on console to ensure that the system is in effect when analogue sticks are at 100% of their range. Previously it was only active at ranges below 100%
Fixed a bug where takedowns would not result in a kill on Xbox One and PlayStation®4
Established new location for our EU Data Centre as Frankfurt
Conquest & Breakthrough – fixed a bug where the Securing Objective XP-event was triggered even after a Capture Point was already fully captured
Hazard Zone – fixed a visual bug displaying squad mates during the match found sequence
Hazard Zone – fixed a bug where the End of Round XP gains sometimes didn’t trigger
Also coming with this update is the previously announced steadfast exclusive legendary bundle which includes a few cosmetics and player card items for owners of the gold and ultimate bundles as a “thank you” for their loyalty to the franchise in an attempt to hold them over until the delayed season one. Believe it or not, this brings us to the end of the patch notes for this update leaving me somewhat confused as to why this update was even delayed? Originally Dice mentioned that update 3.3 would launch mid-late February and was later announced that it would be delayed to early March, but when I opened up the patch notes for this release I found myself saying the same two words I have uttered to myself with almost every dice announcement post-launch, “that’s it?”.
We are now approaching almost 4 full months since the launch of 2042, and I was hoping for much more with this release to draw me back into the game. I will be completely honest, I haven’t even loaded up the game since my last video covering changes that I thought could help save the title and was really hopeful for this update, but it seems we have to wait a bit longer before we start to see some real improvements to the game. As previously mentioned, Dice has said that VoIP will be coming in an early April update and that season one would be delayed until summer, but to go along with this dice released the first of what they call battlefield core feedback, quote “to better clarify the design direction that we’re taking, and what’s motivating our decisions to bring improvements to the game via a feedback loop that involves you, our players, more directly.” This announcement then goes on to outline their first key area of focus, the map design. The article continues; “Based on your feedback, we’ll outline 5 main topics we’ve identified around the current problems that we face with gameplay on maps, their cause, and our current thought process and proposed changes on addressing these problems. Our intent for this is to be an open discussion with you, so we’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback about our updated design goals for maps to ensure that we’re making the right calls to bring improvements to the gameplay experience.” The article then breaks down these 5 main points as the following; Traversal, intensity, line of sight, paths, and cover. These topics are pretty self-explanatory but cover many of the concerns that we have been voicing as players since launch, including the long walks between objectives promoting walking simulator comparisons, the intensity of fights based on spawn and flag placement, line of sight when dealing with fire from all directions, an attempt to include clearer paths between objectives, and addressing the overall lack of cover on the maps. This is then followed by a quick example of how kaleidoscope is currently laid out with the proposed changes for both breakthrough and conquest, which appear more balanced but I will admit I will miss those intense fights at the original A1 for breakthrough.
Although it could be frustrating at times that kind of concentrated gameplay reminded me so much of Operation locker if only for a brief moment. The proposed layout changes for conquest however appear to give a clear line for players to vie for control over and I’m interested to see how this plays out. The one disappointing thing to mention here is that these updates will not see the light of day any time soon, with the updates to Kaleidoscope coming with season one in the summer. Meaning that as of right now it seems it is the only map currently being worked on aside from whatever new map they have planned for season one. The article goes on to mention how these changes will affect the design of future maps and Dice had this to say ” The biggest action point for ourselves is that bigger maps doesn’t necessarily mean more freedom and playstyles, or fun. So you can expect future maps to be smaller in scale than most of our release maps. This also means we are reviewing a possible reduction in the number of Sectors and total Capture Points per map when playing at 128 players. We’re also thinking about changing the shape of the maps to give them more sense of direction. We feel that going from a common Battlefield standard of a square shaped playspace, to a rectangular shape most commonly used in some of our older entries in the franchise can better incentivize pushing forward versus circling out sideways. We feel that this can help to focus areas of combat, enable you to have more focused awareness, and reduce opportunities for enemy fire to come in from all around you. We’ll also review the player counts across modes such as Breakthrough, as well as the types and number of vehicles that can be used on specific maps. For example, does it make sense to have (multiple) Jets on Kaleidoscope if that is our smallest map? It’s important to note here that our focus isn’t to limit your available options, but instead to find the right balance which positively enhances your gameplay experience. Above all, we want you to have fun no matter which map you’re on.” it is good to hear that Dice is seemingly reading the room when it comes to their maps and I am excited to see these changes, however, I get the feeling that these changes may be too little too late as the player count dips and the need for an infusion of new content more apparent day by day. As mentioned previously I was hoping that update 3.3 would host a long list of changes in the patch notes, and I even waited a day to record this because I honestly thought the patch notes that were released were just a summary, but upon waking up the morning of the update expecting to see a much more in-depth list of changes I was once again brought back to those thoughts of “that’s it?” as no such in-depth list came to be. I’m happy to see the scoreboard in the game now, but I still hold the idea that it should have been a part of the game from launch and not the main focus of an update 4 months post-launch. This leaves me little hope for much more than VoIP being added in the next update in April, but I will be sure to cover the patch notes when they come out to pass the info along to you. What do you guys think? Is this update enough to pull you back in? Is a summer release for season one too late? Let me know down in the comments!
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