Why it matters: This year's Battlefield and Call of Duty games will be the first to feature battle royale modes, a new style of play that could restore interest in franchises that are a bit long in the tooth at this point.
EA in the lead-up to Gamescom on Thursday dropped a new trailer for Battlefield V. Titled "Devastation of Rotterdam," the spot highlights in-game footage and cut scenes across a variety of landscapes.
Near the end of the clip after the initial footage, we're treated to what appears to be our first glimpse of Battlefield V's battle royale mode. We're shown a shrinking ring of fire which presumably forces players towards a central point of the map, a common characteristic of most battle royale games.
If this is indeed the battle royale mode, it's interesting to note that combat vehicles are prominently featured rather than simply having non-assault vehicles like Jeeps for transportation.
The trailer arguably couldn't have come at a better time. According to a recent report from VG24/7 citing data from investment firm Cowen Group, pre-orders of Battlefield V have been weak thus far and have fallen behind both Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redemption 2. Part of the blame likely falls on EA for not promoting the game much since its May reveal but with the holiday season slowly approaching, EA will likely rev up its marketing machine.
Battlefield V launches on October 19 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC. To see if your PC will be up to speed to run the game, be sure to check out EA's minimum system requirements.