Battlefield is EA's long-running first-person shooter franchise that's seen tremendous success over the last 16 years. It's been primarily developed by Swedish company EA DICE, with some spinoffs created by the likes of Visceral Games. Though it is often seen as a direct competitor to Call of Duty due to its release window and gameplay genre, mainline Battlefield titles release every 3-4 years as opposed to Call of Duty's annualized releases. Many people love the series for its destructible environments and larger scope when it comes to mapping scale. The fights tend to present themselves in a lot more grandiose of a fashion. When it comes to a cadence in terms of release it's really hard to pin down a pattern for mainline titles in the series. Because they release so sporadically from one another Battlefield mainline titles are often supplemented by a heavy dose of post-release content. This has recently come in the form of a season pass in which players can purchase all the downloadable content upfront at a reduced price. A new entry in the series is right around the corner and set to release in 2018 according to a new press release from EA. This seems to have been in the cards seeing as the internet has been abuzz with rumors for the next title in the series. Like many other games, it's hard to sift through all of the rumors and apparent leaks about Battlefield 5. Let's now take a look at 25 current Battlefield 5 rumors EA and DICE don't want fans to know about.

25 Back To The Future

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We've seen in recent years that the first-person shooter audience has grown tired of future warfare in the Call of Duty series. Both Call of Duty and Battlefield have seen recent entries go back to both WWI and WWII respectively. Rumors suggest that Battlefield 5 may be heading to the future. Some fans believe this is a terrible move and could see Battlefield 5 get trounced by Call of Duty in the Fall of 2018 worse than it usually does.

Others believe that DICE can make future warfare refreshing and feel like something we haven't played before.

These rumors also could be based on older information about the game in its early stages. EA and DICE could have shifted directions once they saw the market shift in interest towards future based shooters. Only time with tell I guess.

24 No Campaign, Big Problem

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Over recent years there has been a growing belief that due to the success of Destiny, Rainbow 6 Siege, PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds, and the like that substantial single player campaigns may be on the way out. A rumor suggests that the Battlefield series may ditch the single-player campaign entirely in favor of working on a new and exciting multiplayer mode. The last Battlefield titles featured a 4-5 hour campaign sliced up into vignettes that tell individual stories that connect to the overarching narrative.

It would be quite surprising if DICE decided to ditch it completely, but we could see it get reduced even further.

Though we may see the reduction of single player games during this time it doesn't mean they'll disappear completely, or not return stronger than ever once this industry fad cools off.

23 I Got Frostbite

via iamag.co

Is this the year that EA allows their studios to finally move away from Frostbite? In reality, this means that EA would have allowed DICE and other studios to move forward years ago. The Frostbite engine has been a huge area of concern for both fans and developers. EA has seemingly forced all of their devs to create unique and engaging experiences in an engine primarily developed for first-person shooters. Fans have argued that this limits what the sports titles, and to some extent Visceral's Star Wars game, and made development harder, more stressful, and ultimately not an effective trade-off in the long run. It's understandable why EA would want everyone using the same engine, but it seems that it would be in their best interest to not go forward with this type of forced commitment.

22 Alternate History WW3

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One of the coolest settings in video games is when a developer takes the known events of the past and tweaks them in new and exciting ways. Alternate history is fascinating when the storytellers play with the ideas of science fiction and seeing how things would have turned out if the balance of power and/or technology was shifted. This is what makes the Wolfenstein series that features Germany advancing in technology super quickly and rising to immense power so interesting. It'd be hard to see the Battlefield series go all in on alternate history, but it could make their campaign and multiplayer modes that much more interesting. Also, alternate history could be done in very subtle and realistic ways as to not turn it into a complete piece of science fiction.

21 Battlefield Two

via battlefield.com

Naming conventions are not exactly a perfect science and companies far too often decide to get cute, rather than make any tangible sense. For a majority of the series, Battlefield had a solid naming convention. The mainline series was numbered from 1 to 4, up until 2016's Battlefield One. This took the industry by surprise and made it confusing as to whether this was a soft reboot, a mainline game, or a spinoff. The "One" in Battlefield One obviously refers to the war in which the game takes place, but why did they do this? Spelling it out makes it confusing, but that doesn't mean we won't see this continue. Rumors are speculating the next title will take place during WW2 and be called Battlefield Two and not Battlefield 5. As if it couldn't get any more confusing.

20 Battlefield Zombies

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Though neither company will ever say they're directly competing with one another, it's obvious to see that Battlefield and Call of Duty look at each other in terms of inspiring innovation and creativity. Players have long yearned for DICE's take on Call of Duty's ultra-popular zombie game mode. It's a play on the classic horde mode that tends to feature whacky characters and some pretty astounding easter eggs along the way. Considering the tone Battlefield takes with their games it would be odd for them to include zombies in a mainline title. Then again this mode could be a piece of downloadable content and thus would separate itself pretty easily from the main theme and tone of the game.

19 By Land Or By Sea

via candb.com

Naval battles are something the Battlefield audience has wanted for ages. It makes sense considering Battlefield has an emphasis on vehicles and large-scale combat, those being the things that truly set it apart from Call of Duty and the like. People have wished for years that one of the entries is more coast or ocean-based and gives players the ability to engage in full on naval combat.

This would be an interesting addition to the series but doesn't seem that far off in terms of it actually happening.

In 2016 Battlefield One gave players the ability to control a zeppelin as a team. They could introduce the same mechanic but with a naval combat ship attacking a base on the beach that serves as the map. Though the current consoles are mighty powerful it's hard to see a game where two giant ships could engage in combat with the number of players Battlefield has in a given match.

18 Battlefield 1985 (Cold War)

via medium.com

When a franchise has been running as long as Battlefield has it tries to find new and interesting places it could take the series. If the next Battlefield were to take place during the Cold War and possibly be called Battlefield 1985 or Battlefield: Cold War it could do just that. Focusing on the last 6 years of the Cold War could add a beautiful crescendo to the game's campaign. Given our current political climate and the United States weird relationship with Russia as of late, it could be a nice look into historical events involving the Soviet Union and the United States. The Cold War is an area that has previously been explored in video games but nowhere near to the extent of each World War. It would be a nice variation if DICE decides to keep the series in the past via historical events.

17 Battle Royale Mode

via tweaktown.com

Yes, you knew this was going to be on the list. Fortnite and Player Unknown's Battlegrounds are selling at an alarming rate and the zeitgeist seems to be never-ending. It's blasphemous to think large publishers aren't brainstorming ways to make a battle royale mode of their own and place it in current projects. People assume this very mode will be making its way to Call of Duty, but Battlefield honestly makes way more sense in terms of what they already developed. DICE is familiar with creating large maps and tend to have slower gameplay. Even though a decent amount of the community is turned off by the thought of a battle royale mode in a Battlefield game it's hard to deny how perfect a match it is. How likely do you think it is that Battlefield 2018 will have a battle royale mode at launch?

16 Time For Some New Blood

via nydailynews.com

We all assume that whenever a new Battlefield game is released that it will more than likely have DICE's name attached to it. They're as synonymous with one another as any company and game IP can be. As of late, there was a sizeable Battlefield experience developed and released by a non-DICE studio.

This game was, in fact, Battlefield: Hardline and was developed by Visceral Games, a studio EA recently closed down unceremoniously.

Could we be looking at EA adopting the Call of Duty model slightly and developing a cadence of releases between DICE and other developers? That may not necessarily be the case, but it isn't crazy to believe that EA wants to cash in even more on one of their longest running and most consistently selling franchises in their entire catalog.

15 Rock Solid Casting

via hollywoodreporter.com

Call of Duty is usually the series think of in video games when it comes to big Hollywood cameos. Battlefield has also dipped their toes into this and we could be seeing more of the same with the release of the next Battlefield game. First-person shooters often feature campaigns that are very linear in nature and tell beat by beat narratives. This is why they often go for big names to perform these characters. It translates well to the performances these actors often give on the big screen and also build in additional marketing streams for the game come full release. They tend to cast within their genre so if a big name is revealed it's best to assume they will more than likely have a background in action movies. It would be interesting to see the like of Dwayne Johnson or Tom Hardy lead you through a dire battlefield.

14 Sooner Rather Than Later

via gameskinny.com

Often times we see Battlefield and Call of Duty release relatively close to one another. Call of Duty usually sees a worldwide release during the first week of November, whereas Battlefield usually comes out the week before towards the end of October. This year, barring another delay, we will see the release of Rockstar's latest blockbuster Red Dead Redemption 2.

It is set to make its worldwide release on October 26th, 2018.

Though Battlefield doesn't cater to the same exact audience they would be sacrificing tons of borderline sales if they released anywhere near Rockstar's next game. There are rumors floating around that we could see Battlefield released closer to the beginning of October, or maybe even moved to mid-November and releasing post Call of Duty. They're in a very tricky spot this year.

13 Anthem Delayed, Battlefield Delivers?

via forbes.com

Many gamers were assuming that Anthem was going to be EA's big release for 2018. Due to the recent announcement that Anthem had been delayed until Spring 2018, it seems that EA is putting all of its chips on Battlefield's shoulders. Of course, EA will still have their annualized sports titles that bring in insane amounts of revenue via their ultimate team franchises, but outside of that, it looks like Battlefield will be their award chasing release for the year of 2018. Rumors are swirling about the scope and budget of the next entry in the series. Some people believe that DICE may finally be able to eat Call of Duty's lunch with Electronic Arts full weight behind them. EA is in a tough position more than ever and Battlefield may be their way of winning people back or maybe severing it even further.

12 Character Customization

via shazoo.ru

Though Battlefield has excelled in delivering large scope warfare with beautiful destructible environments, it's never really allowed players to create their own unique soldier.

They've dabbled with certain customization tools, but never to the extent of selecting your specific appearance.

If they were to add a character creator with some decent depth and options it could just add that much more to the feature set drawing people to the game. In the long run, it won't be a feature that moves mountains, but it's a great community building move that allows people to feel as if they're creating their own heroes. If this does happen don't expect it to be anywhere near the customization of Bethesda games. A safe bet would be to assume it will look similar to the customization tools in EA's Madden or NBA Live titles.

11 Time To Get Tactical

via player.one

Though Battlefield is often presented as the more tactical game, whereas Call of Duty plays on a more arcade type feel, players have wanted a pure tactical shooter multiplayer mode in Battlefield.

The beauty of the series is giving players vast maps that allow a variety of playstyles, classes, and player types to work together on a singular goal.

Imagine having a 6 vs. 6 game mode where players are limited to certain weapons and there's no active radar or heads-up display. This could bring much-needed tension and create some fantastic gaming moments. Having the ability to snipe someone without them knowing where you shot from could lead to some great moment to moment gameplay. Players like variety and this could definitely be a nice change of pace between rounds of Conquest mode.

10 Good Morning, Vietnam!

via gamestar.de

It would be great to see the series return to the Vietnam War. The second game in the franchise, released in 2003, was titled Battlefield Vietnam. Considering the series' recent naming conventions it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility for them to name it the same exact thing. They could even go as far as to make it a full-on remake of that exact game. By the time of release, it would be over 15 years old and wouldn't bother any major part of the community. Honestly, it would be an excellent way to pay homage the dedicated veterans of the series while also making something they've already done new and refreshing. The Vietnam War is a hard and difficult battle to cover. It's a piece of history that could be presented in a very challenging and thought-provoking way.

9 Plays Best On Xbox One X

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With the current trend of people moving towards 4K and higher resolutions, we'll undoubtedly see an increased commitment from publishers offering tangible benefits to purchasing their games and playing them on the more advanced hardware.

Though PlayStation 4 Pro isn't anything to sneeze at, the Xbox One X will be where games will be optimized to look, sound, and feel the best.

It's the market leader in terms of raw power and it seems that developers are having a favorable time scaling their games to run at optimum efficiency on the platform. It will be interesting to see if Battlefield 2018 is unveiled at Xbox's press conference during E3 this year and if it looking and playing the best on the Xbox One X will be a huge sticking point for the end of the reveal.

8 Earthquakes & Hurricanes

via techradar.com

Every year it seems we hear rumblings of a game trying to add dynamic weather to their engine in hopes of creating new and dynamic gameplay scenarios. Recent rumors suggest that the next Battlefield may include varied weather conditions and possibly even some cataclysmic events such as floods and tornadoes. The belief is that DICE wants to showcase what they're capable of while at the same time adding built-in re-playability. Having enough time and experience on the new hardware allows them to push their engine to the limits. That is of course if the Frostbite engine is capable of such endeavors. The possibility of seeing the destructible maps of Battlefield get absolutely destroyed and changing the pattern of play mid-match is astounding.

7 No More Premium Pass

via origin.com

Over the last 5+ years, players have become accustomed to the idea of paying for an entire season of downloadable content post-release for one flat rate. For Battlefield they call their own season pass a premium pass and it seems to have delivered for fans over the years.

With all of the recent mishaps surrounding EA and their microtransactions, we could see DICE and the Battlefield series ditch the premium pass entirely.

Some assume that this change would be to instill trust in their community, but could actually be a way for them to make more money by releasing each pack individually and forcing those interested to pay for each one separately. The tradeoff would allow EA to make more money over the course of time but would make a sizable dent in those impulse purchases people are so inclined to do.

6 Return Of Vignettes

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Battlefield One was enjoyed by most critics and the overwhelming response to their approach to the single-player campaign was positive. The bite-sized vignettes were digestible enough for the casual player and interesting enough to provide a break for the die-hard multiplayer gamer. This format allowed the team to tell individual stories that brought you into heartbreaking and emotionally grasping situations that alter your overall understanding of how brutal war is to an individual in the trenches. If Battlefield decides to stay back in time they could easily take this same approach and bring back the vignettes. It would be great if they either increase the length of the individual sections or maybe even add more vignettes. Then again the studio may be focusing on new multiplayer experiences and we should be thankful for getting a single-player mode at all.