Battlefield 2042 is free to download this weekend for PC gamers, making it an excellent opportunity to try out the game and develop your own opinions on one of the year's most divisive titles.

No one expected it as a description for the upcoming instalment of a critically acclaimed and popular first-person shooter franchise. According to a recent source, the game began pre-production three years ago, but real development only took place between the summer of 2020 and November 2021. That's only 15 months of development to build big changes to the series' norm, including as the lack of a single-player storey, new class systems inspired by Apex Legends and Warzone, and console design for the next generation. Oh, and these issues have been accompanied by a pandemic.

“We are serious about Battlefield. "EA is devoting substantial time and resources to Battlefield 2042 and the franchise's long-term success," the publisher said in a statement released in response to the leak regarding the game's troubled development. "We'll keep growing and improving Battlefield 2042 because it's the cornerstone for the franchise's future." We've got the proper people in place, and we're putting money into the right teams and resources to achieve Battlefield's enormous potential."

Keeping all of this in mind, the free weekend is a great opportunity to cut through the hype and get a firsthand look at the game. It'll also cost you nothing, but this possibility is only available to PC players. Between December 16th and December 20th, it will be available for purchase on Steam. Furthermore, if you put Battlefield 2042 through its paces and recognise the potential that EA was championing in its statement, the game's regular, Gold, and Ultimate Editions are on sale until December 22nd.

Quite a number of games have a rocky start before transforming into the title that the developers had envisioned. Consider No Man's Sky and how far it's come in just five years. Of course, we'll have to wait and see if Battlefield 2042 follows in the footsteps of its predecessors.