Battlefield V release date, UK price, modes and more: Battlefield 5 release date delayed

It’s less than a month away from Battlefield V’s release, and a few days since the open beta closed.

DICE discussed in a blog post what they learned from the beta, and it shines an interesting light on the game.

Some of the elements discussed pertain to tweaks DICE need to make, by altering the power of certain guns and the proliferation of certain vehicles. Beyond that though, certain game modes are dicussed.

For exampe ‘Attrition’, a survival-esque game mode in which players have limited health and ammo, seemed like a (relatively) realistic mode for a World War 2 game, in which hiding behind cover is as integral to the gameplay as combat. However complaints from beta players have suggested that the mode is in fact too hard, and the trench-based gameplay isn’t fun enough. DICE have suggested they will change this, although they pledge to stick to their initial vision for the game mode too.

Both planes and tanks were criticised for being too heavy, and DICE has suggested that between tweaks to the way they operate, and a wider variety of vehicles at launch, this concern will be fixed upon release too.

All in all, Battlefield V is shaping up to be a hugely enjoyable game.

Battlefield V delayed

EA DICE has announced that its upcoming game Battlefield V, will be delayed by a month. The release date will now be 20 November, a month later than the initial release date of 19 October.

In a blog post announcing the change Oskar Gabrielson, a General Manager at DICE, said the delay was to “make some final adjustments to core gameplay,” as well as incorporate feedback left from internal playtesting, a closed alpha earlier this year, and an upcoming open beta (see below for more details).

The news comes after analysts Cowen described pre-order sales as ‘weak’, suggesting sales were far below those of the game’s main competitor Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Many pointed out that Battlefield V’s release date, in one of the busiest months for game releases, put it in direct competition with many games, including Black Ops 4 the week before and the highly anticipated Red Dead Redemption 2 the week after.

It seems likely that the change in release date for Battlefield V was done to distance it from games it could compete with, as its only close competition in November is Fallout 76 the week before. It also puts the game further into the holiday season, which is traditionally a highly lucrative time for games released.

Battlefield V release date

The updated release date for Battlefield V is 20 November, a month after the initial release date of 19 October. If that’s too long to wait, however, a beta is opening on 6 September for a limited time, or on 4 September for those who have pre-ordered the game or subscribe to one of EA’s various Origin services.

The beta will include maps set in Rotterdam and Narvik for the Conquest game mode, the traditional 64-player deathmatch. Also available are two “days” of Grand Operations, a battle mode played in rounds where each round affects subsequent rounds. 

Battlefield V price and preorder

EA DICE didn’t reveal the Battlefield V price at its grand unveiling but Microsoft and GAME have since released the details on their respective preorder pages. Microsoft is offering preorders for both the Battlefield V Deluxe and Standard versions for the Xbox One, while GAME is offering preorders for the Standard edition on Xbox One, PS4, as well as on PC.

The Deluxe costs £79.99, or £71.99 on EA Access from the Microsoft Store. The Standard costs £59.99, or £53.99 on EA Access. EA Access is a subscription service that lets you download and play EA titles on Xbox One at any time in The Vault. It also gives you a 10% discount on EA Xbox One digital purchases. Prices are £3.99 a month or £19.99 for a 12-month pass. 

GAME is offering the Standard Battlefield V for £54.99 on all three platforms. 

Preorder Battlefield V for the Xbox One 

Preorder Battlefield V for PS4

Preorder Battlefield V for PC

Battlefield trailer

As part of EA DICE’s grand reveal, the developers released the first cinematic trailer for Battlefield V, which it also confusingly refers to as Battlefield 5. The trailer starts as a long, dizzying tracking shot of British soldiers. 

Bombs explode around them as they travel through a battlefield with bullets, grenades – and trucks – flying across the screen. As the trailer continues, this cutscene morphs into gameplay of what appears to be an online team deathmatch. As much as it’s a chaotic, exciting look at Battlefield V, it also generated a fair amount of criticism and backlash. The hashtag #NotMyBattlefield started trending on Twitter, and appeared across Reddit, and YouTube – among other sites – after the event as fans bemoaned its historical inaccuracies and claimed the soldiers acted in a way that disrepsected the memory of the veterans of the war. The biggest backlash among the snowflakes was the inclusion of a female soldier, though.

Battlefield V gameplay

Instead of being set in the muddy trenches of World War One, Battlefield V follows Call of Duty WW2 into the dramatic battles of the World War Two. This is the first entry in the Battlefield series to venture into WWII since Battlefield 1943 took players there in 2009.

Beyond this setting, Battlefield V comes with the ability to repair fortifications mid-game, has improved mechanics, works on a physics-based destruction engine, and features epic four-day multiplayer mini-campaigns. And that’s just for starters! As the trailer revealed, in multiplayer mode of Battlefield V you’ll be able to shuffle on your back while shooting, call in V1 rockets, and take part in various modes under the umbrella name of Tides of War. 

 In addition to the Team Deathmatch and Conquest modes, Battlefield V comes with a multiplayer mode called Combined Arms. A halfway point between playing solo missions and battling it out in the game’s all-out-war sandbox, squads of up to four players will play objective-based missions set behind enemy lines in this new mode. 

Grand Operations mode is a time-sensitive online mini-campaign, of sorts, which sees players complete missions across four “days”, during which one side attacks and the other defends a la Star Wars Battlefront. You can read more about the new multiplayer modes here. 

Elsewhere, gunplay has been improved and bullet trajectories have been made more reliable and accurate based on a weapon’s recoil rate, for example. It potentially makes shooting more difficult in the first instance, but once you’ve mastered it, it will make you a more skilled marksman. In Battlefield V, EA DICE is also giving the ability to revive other players to all squad members.

Perhaps the biggest news from last night’s reveal is that EA DICE will no longer be charging for Premium Passes to access additional online content. This means that when new maps are released, anyone who owns the game will be able to play them, and gamers won’t be excluded from joining in certain online campaigns or time-limited modes.

EA DICE said it had always planned to bring Battlefield to the Second World War but decided it would test the waters for a historical shooter by releasing Battlefield 1. Due to its success, and the success of Call of Duty WW2, EA DICE knew it was time to double down on the time period and bring a World War Two shooter to life.

While Battlefield 1 was actually the fifth proper Battlefield title, it’s believed that EA decided to opt for Battlefield V for the new title due to its double meaning as the fifth mainline Battlefield title and as the famous V for Victory sign.