Battlefield 2042's Hazard Zone Is A High-stakes Get-in, Get-out Mode With Teams Of Four

Battlefield 2042's long-awaited third "not a battle royale" mode has been revealed, and it's -- well, a little battle-royale like in some ways, but not in others.

In Hazard Zone, teams of four specialists are tasked with dropping into a region where satellites have dropped to the Earth, each containing data drives full of sensitive information. Players start by equipping their squads using Dark Money Credits (DMC), which can only be obtained via Hazard Zone runs. Once on the ground, you can scan for the satellites and race other squads to them; more will fall as the match goes in.

The first extraction opportunity comes takes place at a random location. After that occurs, the storm in the area intensifies, making it more difficult to accomplish the task of retrieving data. A second extraction comes later, and if you don't get out on that chopper, that's that. The more data drives you extract with, the more DMC you receive to use in future matches, along with bonuses for your performance (such as kills).

While there isn't gear to acquire along the way, you will find ammo stations scattered throughout the map. Also, there are three different type of uplinks available that grant vehicle spawns or allow for the respawning of one of your squad members.

A match of Hazard Zone takes anywhere from five to 20 minutes, depending on your play style, and the mode will take place on all seven of Battlefield 2042's maps. Interestingly, despite EA strongly hinting that BF2042 will include a free-to-play mode -- thought to be Hazard Zone -- there's no mention of that being the case in the description of the mode on the game's website.

Hazard Zone matches on PC and next-gen consoles will have 36 players, while those on last-gen consoles will have 24. Battlefield 2042 launches on November 19 for PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.