Battlefield 5 Firestorm Battle Royale Release Date Revealed - But Is It Too Late?

After months of waiting, Battlefield 5's battle royale mode, Firestorm, is nearly ready for prime time. DICE and EA have revealed when the new mode will launch, and it's right around the corner. It was a bit surprising to hear that Firestorm wouldn't be launching alongside Battlefield 5, so here's hoping the wait pays off.Firestorm officially launches on March 25 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. When it arrives, players will be able to hop into 64-player multiplayer battles either solo or in squads of four. Though there will eventually be a duos mode added to the game, we won't see that happen until sometime in April as part of Battlefield 5's Trial by Fire content.

EA and DICE put together a cinematic trailer for Firestorm, which you can see below. It doesn't give us an actual look at Firestorm's gameplay, but it does get the basic idea across well enough. Like other battle royale modes, you'll be dropped onto a map and forced to loot for weapons, armor, and items as you try to survive long enough to be the last player (or squad) standing.

Firestorm offers a bit of a spin on battle royale with its heavy focus on vehicles. In all, EA and DICE say that there are 17 different vehicles to use in Firestorm, ranging from helicopters to tractors, and though we've seen vehicular combat in battle royale titles before, Battlefield certainly does it better than most. There will also be objectives to complete during Firestorm matches, which can grant rare loot that may be able to swing a match in your favor.

It sounds like Firestorm is going to be a neat battle royale mode, but one has to wonder how much success it can hope to find in this world where free-to-play games dominate the battle royale scene. Two of the biggest battle royale titles around – Fortnite and Apex Legends – have the fact that they're free-to-play driving growth. Can a battle royale in a paid title compete with that?

Blackout did a pretty good job of pulling people in back when it first launched, but these days, all eyes seem to be on Apex Legends, which coincidentally is another battle royale title from Electronic Arts. It'll be interesting to see how Firestorm performs in the current battle royale market, but being tied to a game that costs $60 might mean that it'll have a tough time growing its slice of the pie in an already crowded space.