Leading into E3 2021, Electronic Arts officially unveiledBattlefield 2042. The next majorBattlefieldgame is set in the near future and focuses on multiplayer, dropping single-player entirely. With that in mind, Electronic Arts confirmedBattlefield 2042will feature the series' biggest multiplayer mode of all time, a 128-player All-Out Warfare mode available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. As exciting as that is,Battlefieldfans likely understand that getting 128 players in every match is no simple task. Luckily, EA has a solution for that.
In situations where aBattlefield 2042All-Out Warfare match cannot bring 128 players together for a match,EA DICEwill instead fill the match with bots. EA confirmed to The Verge that should empty slots end up unfilled, up to 64 bots will take their place. That means that an entire team could theoretically be composed entirely of bots, should all 64 player slots require them. EA must see that as preferable to no match at all.
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To be clear, the full details of DICE’s plans here haven’t been fully detailed. But the insinuation appears to be that for a match to start, it requires at least64 players. The match will try and reach 128, assumedly, but is willing to backfill. Alternatively, a match will only start when 128 players have been secured and will only fill in bots if players leave. That’s how some battle royale games handle introducing bots.
The structure of how EA will implement bot usage for 128-player multiplayer matches will ultimately define how successful it is. Obviously, mostBattlefield 2042players are going to want to compete against humans, not bots. A bot may be better than an empty slot in most players' minds, but not if it means anoverwhelming number of bots. It’ll be a challenge for EA DICE to balance, to say the least.
That’s to say nothing about the bots themselves. Programming AI so that they feel competitive without being either too good or brainless isn’t easy. That’s why AI in games hasn’t improved dramatically in some time. Now imagine not just 1 bot, not even a dozen, but as many as 64 bots in a single game. And not only will they have to be competitive in terms of basic shooting and tactics, but also in terms ofAll-Out Warfare’s objective-driven gameplay.
All in all, support for bots inBattlefield 2042’s 128-player All-Out Warfare modemay have been worth waiting to make a bigger announcement for. As it stands, there’s a reasonable amount of skepticism to be had about what that means forBattlefield 2042’s most exciting option for PvP gameplay.
Battlefield 2042releases October 22 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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