Battlefield 2042's secret third mode is 'Portal'

When EA and DICE revealed Battlefield 2042 in June, they had to contend with a wave of leaks and spoiled surprises, but they were able to keep details about the game's third and final mode under wraps. Today, the secret's out. Battlefield Portal is the third mode in Battlefield 2042, and it's all about community interaction and user-created levels.

Battlefield Portal includes all seven maps from 2042's All-Out Warfare mode, plus six classic environments from previous Battlefield titles. The classic maps are Battle of the Bulge and El Alamein from Battlefield 1942, Arica Harbor and Valparaiso from Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Caspian Border and Noshahr Canals from Battlefield 3.

The mode features pre-programmed, reimagined experiences from these past titles, including conquest, rush and team deathmatch. All of the maps, including the classic ones, will support matches of up to 128 players on PC, Xbox Series consoles and PlayStation 5. As with Battlefield 2042's main All-Out Warfare mode, matches on older-gen hardware will be capped at 64 players.

Here's where it gets custom. Along with the updated, old-school playgrounds, Battlefield Portal includes more than 40 weapons, more than 40 vehicles, and more than 30 gadgets from three theaters of war, plus all of the related content from Battlefield 2042. This means the M1 Garand, Panzerschreck, B17 Bomber, Spitfire, defibrillator and other fan-favorite tools are back.

Factions are also returning to Battlefield Portal. On top of the specialists from Battlefield 2042, the mode features seven armies from the classic games, including the UK, US and Germany out of 1942, and the US and Russia from Bad Company 2. Battlefield Portal also supports classic soldier archetypes like Battlefield 3's assault, recon, support and engineer roles.

All of this culminates in the Builder tool in Battlefield Portal. In Builder, players can design their own matches and share them with the community, adjusting a range of settings including the game logic itself. Players will have control over the maps and modes in their custom games, including traits like available factions, weapons and gear; the ability to toggle down sights or go prone; the size of the battle and conditions for victory.

Players won't be able to edit any of the actual maps, but overall, Portal has an extremely rich customization mode. All progress in Battlefield Portal is shared across consoles, just like stats in the main game.

Battlefield 2042 — including Battlefield Portal — is due out on October 22nd, for $60 on PC, Xbox One and PS4, and $70 on Xbox Series X/S and PS5. There's still one more game mode yet to be revealed, Hazard Zone. We know it's a "high-stakes squad-based game type never seen before in the Battlefield franchise," and it's not a battle royale mode, but that's about it.