The catch may not be all that big of a deal, depending on your point of view.

EA has confirmed that Battlefield 2042 will include cross-play support. However, not all platforms will be able to play with all other platforms.

In a new Battlefield Briefing, EA made it clear that there will be two separate groups of cross-play players: One group will feature PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. The other group will include Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players.

The obvious differences between the two groups is that the one with PC and next-gen consoles will support 128-players per map. The old generation of consoles will only support up to 64 players. The map sizes will also be different between the two generations of consoles, meaning that cross-platform play between new and old just isn't in the cards.

Beyond cross-play, EA also confirmed that there will be cross-progression and cross-commerce for Battlefield 2042. This means that you will have the same stats, same unlocks, and same transactions shared across all platforms.

All of this sounds great like fantastic news. However, there is one minor setback to all of this. Because of the addition of cross-play, EA has to delay the game's technical playtest that was originally slated to begin in late July. This playtest is now set for "later this Summer" but will allow for PC, Series X|S, and PS5 players to play together.

You can sign up for the invite-only test by ensuring your EA Playtesting profile is up to date. Please note that this technical playtest is NOT the open beta, which has yet to receive any sort of start date.

Battlefield 2042 is set to be released on October 22, 2021. We will see more about the game during EA Play Live on July 22.