"Battlefield 2042" will not include a single-player campaign, but DICE has included AI bots in the game this time so that it can be played alone. In addition to allowing solo play, the bots will "backfill" 128-person servers, and there is no avoiding encounters with them, EA announced today. The publisher told The Verge something similar last month.

There is a cap on the number of AI soldiers that can appear in Conquest and Breakthrough matches, and EA generally states that "unless a match is still filled or nearly empty, you will not experience more AI soldiers than players. Real players will kick bots out as they join.

Ideally, "Battlefield 2042" would be so popular that all matches would be filled (except one per region if the total player count is not a multiple of 128), but DICE seems to be putting a lot of energy into getting these AI soldiers to play properly. June was mentioned at the time of the announcement, but EA elaborated further in a blog post today:

"AI soldiers are meant to play the game the same way you play the game yourself. However, they are not designed as specialists and cannot use traits or specialties; AI soldiers perform specific missions, such as engaging vehicles using the vehicle calling system or taking out targets. They cannot use wingsuits, but they do have the intelligence to determine whether to engage enemy fire, flank, throw grenades, or revive fallen squad mates.

In addition to helping to fill partially populated servers, as in "Chivalry 2" and certain recent battle royale games, the bots in "Battlefield 2042" allow for cooperative and solo play. (Even solo play requires being online, EA announced today.)

I'm interested in the prospect of cooperative play in Battlefield because sometimes I just want to hang out with friends without being interrupted by an unspecified number of people.

As for bots as server fillers, at least in the early days of Battlefield 2042, there won't be that many in the Conquest game; DICE is working on cross-play for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, so there should be a significant player pool should be there.

Using bots as a way to keep teams from filling up with people coming in and out is fine, but don't have a handful of players chew bots for 10 minutes straight and then frequently join them mid-match.

[16] We'll find out eventually! Battlefield 2042 is scheduled for release on October 22. Next week at EA Play Live on July 22, we will learn about the secret nostalgic mode that DICE LA (now called Ripple Effect) is working on. Until then, here's everything we know about "Battlefield 2042."