News of Battlefield 2042's open beta surfaced this week, alerting fans they can expect to dive into the action as early as next week. However, it's been confirmed all players will require an Xbox Live Gold membership to check it out on Microsoft's consoles, whereas PlayStation owners won't require a Plus subscription.
The news was buried within the beta's FAQ page, confirming that PlayStation Plus is not needed to participate in the open beta, but an Xbox Live Gold subscription is.
"Please note, PlayStation Plus is not needed to participate in the Open Beta, however, if you're playing on Xbox you will need to be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber."
Twitter users have been confused by the decision too, but acknowledged that it's not a massive deal considering an Xbox Live Gold subscription would be needed for the full game in November anyway.
That being said, it's a strange choice, especially when Xbox was previously dubbed as the "official console for Battlefield 2042". You'd think with that sort of partnership - including an appearance during Xbox's E3 Showcase - that all users would be able to check out the open beta.
If a PlayStation Plus membership was needed to participate as well then it would make more sense, but it's strange that it doesn't. We suppose the advantage Xbox players will get is early access if they're a Game Pass Ultimate member, but then again, all EA Play members (including on PlayStation) will be able to dive in 48 hours before everyone else.
It's a bit odd.
How do you feel about this decision with Battlefield 2042? Let us know in the comments below.
[source ea.com]
Comments 12
Yeah, I mean, you'll need it to play the full game. So, not really a big deal. Very few people that would try out a multiplayer game, that don't already have Gold. I'm sure it'll blow up and become a big outrage though cuz Xbox ofc...
@Trmn8r I completely agree, but I do think sometimes MS could do with not shooting themselves in the foot.
It's way, way better than the start of last generation, but sometimes they do appear not ruthless or PR savvy enough - I mean Sony would have something to prevent this written into their "over the top" (in our eyes) marketing contract.
CoD, FIFA and Battlefield are the biggest multi-platform games this season - and despite being close to EA this is the only one Xbox have the marketing rights to.
So having a bunch of negative headlines about it is just dumb and avoidable.
It means any "I need to buy an Xbox to play it" thoughts (the whole point of Xbox marketing being around it) will be replaced in a quick Google with "I need to buy a PlayStation to play it as I might not have to pay Plus on that" (even though we know you certainly will)
@Widey85 No matter how many great things Xbox is doing this generation over Playstation, It's more popular to dump on Xbox. Because culturally, Playstation is the cool machine that all the cool people own. So, society will willingly overlook glaring issues with Playstation, and just hammer on nothingburgers with Xbox. I mean, just look at how much people crapped on Microsoft with the game preservation tweet, when Nintendo is doing worse this gen with their removal of virtual console, and Sony even more so with only supporting PS4.
Xbox has to just keep doing what they are doing, and hope to win the culture back eventually, when people start to realize how great of a value things like Game Pass are. I think Steam Deck will do a lot for Game Pass when it comes out.
@Trmn8r I totally agree - just wish we could avoid unforced errors like this.
I hope if Valve get Game Pass on the Deck that we get Steam on Xbox lol (pipe dream of mine despite having a Deck on pre-order)
Was the same with the call of duty beta
Good cause I don’t have PlayStation plus.
@uptownsoul I don't think it's okay. I Also don't think it's a huge deal. But I do think Microsoft should address this. I Also think anything Xbox does usually gets a lot of backlash. I think BF is rubbish anyway.
Ugh. That's a lot of thinking...My head hurts.
My guess is in Xbox demos are tied to the actual game release entry that is not F2P, therefore covered by the paid online requirements.
On PlayStation the game demo is likely an unrelated, unconnected app, similar to their clunky cross generation releases that don’t even share trophies.
This possibly allows for the PS version to be considered independently “F2P”
@uptownsoul ooooh, okay. I was agreeing kind of, but I get it, it's obvious what you're about 😊😋 have a nice evening sweeite
@Trmn8r I agree. Sony get away with everything. Why don't people here ever say bad things about PS? It's just crazy how it's only MS who get talked down about!
(*takes off rose tinted glasses)
So very odd how one needs pay wall the other doesn't? Would Sony open it up for good PR while MS don't want to? Could that happen? Not really sure how these things work.
@StonyKL Didn't talk about people here. Nice try at sarcasm and broad-brushing though. This is pretty much a non-story. A beta for a multiplayer only game that will require a subscription on both platforms to play, requires a subscription on one to play the beta. Quick, everyone find their pearls to start clutching... Guess it sucks for those 3 people that want to get this game, but are going to let their Live Gold lapse for a month.
@uptownsoul it’s true. Fanboys on both sides can be annoyingly Flip floppy depending on which side you’re loyal to is being the demon. I hate it when Sony acts in anticonsumer way. I hate it when Microsoft acts in anticonsumer ways. I hate it when Nintendo acts in anticonsumer way. And I’ll applaud whoever does what’s good for the gamer.
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