Battlefield 1 Community Test Environment updates often tease the game’s most bleeding-edge multiplayer features, and it looks like we’ve got the scoop on one today. While Frontlines is a game mode introduced in the They Shall Not Pass DLC expansion, info via reddit suggest Frontlines may be headed to non-DLC maps as well.
The news arrives via a reddit thread in which DICE staff has announced that Frontlines is currently being tested on two vanilla game maps: Argonne Forest and Amiens. As this is a test, a lot about the mode’s implementation remains subject to change. The developers have asked players to comment on several different factors including flag placement, flag capture area size, telegraph placement and overall balance between teams.
Read: Battlefield 1 May Update Nerfs Bayonets & Adds AA Repairs
A private discussion thread has also been created for the Frontlines testing period, and, outside of a few minor balance complaints, it appears the testing is going fairly smoothly. However, because this feature is only being considered, there’s no guarantee the additions will ever make it to the final game. The CTE has been a solid indicator of future updates in the past, though. Many features in last month’s major title update, like bayonet adjustments, happened weeks ago in the CTE.
For those who missed the memo on what Frontlines actually is, it’s in some ways a combination of the existing Conquest and Rush modes. First, teams are tasked with capturing a central flag. If that’s completed, the match moves on to a second and third flag. Each time a flag is successfully defended, the battle moves backward. If all flags are captured, the next step is to destroy two telegraphs in quick succession. In practice, this objective essentially becomes a tug of war between progress and defeat on both sides.
The mode made its debut in the They Shall Not Pass expansion in March and is currently restricted to its DLC maps including Verdun Heights, Fort De Vaux and Soissons. If the update that’s currently in testing eventually goes public, it’s assumed that players who didn’t pay for the extra content might be able to experience this new way to compete.
Read: Battlefield 1 They Shall Not Pass Arrives March 14 With Season Pass
What’s not clear, however, is precisely when a feature like this would go live. After all, this is the first time in Battlefield 1’s development cycle that we’ve had the chance of an existing DLC mode possibly reaching a wider audience. As far as we can see, it might become available in a free content update at the end of June or July. It might also be a free addition set to launch alongside the In The Name Of The Tsar expansion this August. With that window in mind, a tentative summer arrival sounds right to us.
Battlefield 1 is available now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Testing within the CTE is currently exclusive to PC.
Would you like to play Frontlines on some of Battlefield 1’s non-DLC maps? Can it work? Tell us in the comments section!
