Battlefield 2042 is finally getting in-game voice chat

Just five months after it was initially released, Battlefield 2042 is finally getting a basic — and often demanded — feature: In-game voice chat. The ability to talk to squadmates in the massive, team-based first-person shooter will be added in the game’s 4.0 update, which is set to roll out on April 19. Update 4.0 for #Battlefield2042 goes live across all platforms tomorrow (19/4) at 08:00 UTC ✅ It's a zero-downtime update so you'll be good to jump in and play once you have it downloaded 🎮 Update Notes: https://t.co/d22PICnrOh pic.twitter.com/PlrUo1madD — Battlefield Comms (@BattlefieldComm) April 18, 2022 In-game voice chat (otherwise known as VOIP) will be functional for anyone in a party or in a squad. Like past Battlefield titles, the game won’t be an open channel for every player on one team, which makes even more sense now that teams can have up to 64 players. Players will be able to adjust their in-game voice chat settings from the Sound/Voice submenu of the game’s options screen. Along with in-game voice chat, developer Dice is also adjusting some of Battlefield 2042‘s weapon attachments. These changes focus on making each attachment’s difference on a weapon more “unique and noticeable.” For example, some of the game’s optic attachments will have a lower aim down sight speed while their magnifications are increased. Dice is also adjusting one of Battlefield 2042‘s most popular vehicles with tomorrow’s update. Anyone playing the game has probably been killed a disproportionate number of times by someone in an M5C Bolte. The speedy vehicles are capable of wiping out entire squads with their turrets, and can even pose a threat to other, larger vehicles with the right attachments. Tomorrow’s update will nerf the vehicle, making its driver and passengers easier to shoot and drastically decreasing the damage its missile launcher attachment deals out. EA Motive, the studio behind 2023’s excellent Dead Space remake, confirmed that the next Battlefield game is in development and that it will assist with its development. Unfortunately, work on that new game also means that seasonal updates for Battlefield 2042 will cease after the conclusion of Season 7: Turning Point. These announcements were made across two separate blog posts. The one about EA Motive explains that “a group of developers from Motive are joining the talented teams at Criterion, DICE, and Ripple Effect to continue unlocking the full potential of Battlefield.” Dead Space remake creative director Roman Compos-Oriola and executive producer Philippe Ducharme were named as the leaders of this team. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 officially has a release date. During the Summer Game Fest, Insomniac Games revealed that the game is scheduled to release on October 20 as a PlayStation 5 exclusive. The stream also featured a few new details about the game, including new information about its villains. Spider-Man 2 recently appeared at the May 2023 PlayStation Showcase, so it wasn’t surprising that there wasn’t any new footage at the Summer Game Fest. However, Insomniac presented new concept art, including one with Peter Parker and Miles Morales fighting side by side and another with the two Spider-Mans fighting Venom. If you want to try Battlefield 2042 for free on PC, your time is running out. You have just over a day to download and play it on Steam before it goes back to being a full-price release.
Battlefield 2042’s free access period on Steam began on March 13, about two weeks after the start of Season 4: Eleventh Hour. If you go to its store page on Steam, you can download and play it for free until 12 p.m. ET on March 16. The game is also discounted on Steam during this time, so you can pick Battlefield 2042 up for $18 instead of $60.
If you don’t want to buy the game directly but still want to continue playing after this free trial period, you have some options. Battlefield 2042 is included in multiple subscription services at the moment. It is one of March 2023’s monthly PlayStation Plus titles for both PS4 and PS5 subscribers. Meanwhile, it’s available as part of the EA Play game library, which Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S all have access to.
If you use the same EA account on those platforms, you’ll be able to carry over all of your account progression and items and not lose any progress. As such, this free access period on Steam is a great time to check out Battlefield 2042 if you’ve been on the fence about picking it up. 
Battlefield 2042 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Its free Steam demo ends on March 16.