Battlefield 1 Operations to be playable outside of Premium going forward
It appears DICE is starting to remove some of the content behind the Premium paywall of Battlefield 1.
Alongside today's Fire & Ice Operation Campaigns update, all players are able to access DLC Operations which were initially Battlefield 1 Premium content.
According to a post written on the Battlefield forums by lead designer Alex Sulman, today's update will allow those who don't own the Premium pass to access all Operations from here on out.
Sulman stated the reason was due to technical challenges faced by the many different player licenses spanning the base game only, standalone expansions and Premium Pass.
"This challenge presented two options: continue to configure Operation Campaigns to be exclusively for Premium Pass owners, as with Eastern Storm, or to not require Premium Pass at all, as with Fall of Empires," Sulman wrote.
"One of the primary goals for Operation Campaigns was to rally as many players as we can around content to ensure the servers are as full as possible. We have seen tremendous success with the first two Campaigns in this regard, so moving forward, starting with “Fire & Ice”, Operation Campaigns will be open to all players, always, regardless of the Operations contained."
This means those who only own the base version of Battlefield 1 will still be able to play Operations part of expansions not owned.
That said, the maps will only be accessible in the Operations mode and players will not have the weapons, vehicles, or Elites which exist in the corresponding expansions and maps. Players will only be able to access the Operations that are part of the active Campaign which will change every two weeks as the Operations rotate.
"Our goal here is to ensure the best chance at the most populated servers we can," Sulman continued. "We feel opening up the content to all players is the best way to do this. Of course the most complete way to experience this content remains via the Premium Pass which ensures you can play with all of the toys on all of the maps whenever you want."
Westie goes over the ins and outs of how Operations will work going forward the video above.
Out today, Battlefield 1's Fire & Ice is the first cross expansion campaign featuring the Operations Devils Anvil from the They Shall Not Pass expansion and Brusilov Offensive from In The Name of the Tsar.