Update October 19, 2016: Battlefield 1 will have rentable servers, it turns out. It’s just that EA will be hosting them personally, and they’ll be pricey.
EA revealed that they would be handling rentable servers in a recent announcement. “Starting close after launch, you will be able to rent a server through the in-game store of Battlefield 1,” EA said. “In the past, servers were handled by third-party companies – now, EA is providing them directly.
“We think this will benefit you in several ways. First off, we will be able to secure the quality of the actual hardware. Since the servers come from the same provider, it will give everyone the same uniform experience. Furthermore, if you have questions or need help, you will be able to reach out to EA Support directly instead of third party support.”
For more world at war, check out our list of the best WW2 games.
On rented servers, players will be able to customise everything from server name, map rotation, game mode, gameplay settings and more. EA say they may restrict the number of game modes available at launch, but more options and modes will be added gradually over time.
In a new blog post, EA have now revealed the prices for these servers. They’ll be much more expensive for us PC players, for some reason. (I’ve added console prices for comparison’s sake). Probably because we don’t pay for the pleasure of playing online.
Either way, here are the prices:
PC
- 1 day: $2.99
- 7 days: $11.99
- 30 days: $42.99
- 90 days: $99.99
- 180 days: $149.99
PlayStation 4/Xbox One
- 1 day: $1.99
- 7 days: $7.99
- 30 days: $26.99
- 90 days: $64.99
- 180 days: $99.99
Cheers, PCGamer.
Original Story October 6, 2016: It’s long been a tradition for dedicated players to be able to rent a server in the Battlefield series, whether to play it with your clan or set your own rules of engagement. Unless EA are hosting these servers themselves, though, it’s likely they’re not going to be in Battlefield 1 at launch.
We were contacted by EdgeGamers, who pointed us at a story they’d recently published. They had reached out to I3D, EA’s official Battlefield server provider, to find out about renting a server. During the call, it became clear that the company hasn’t yet been included in talks about server rental.
This could mean EA are handling these themselves, but they’ve always used I3D before, and I3D are already housing Battlefield 1’s official servers.
“At this point in time we are not allowed to offer any BF1 servers to the general public,” says the transcript. “I would not rule it out in the future. But there is also that EA/Dice may host the servers themselves or that EA/Dice may resell them to the public themselves.
“Because the launch is so close and they continue to be very vague – there has been no confirmation about what we can do. Honestly, I am as confused as our customers.”
I3D say that they were previously allowed to tell Battlefield 4 players that they would migrate their Battlefield 3 servers across a month ahead of time, and they also took orders for new ones a month ahead of time for that sequel. At this point, though, there are no options available for those looking to carry a server across to the WW1 shooter.
“We have no word from EA/Dice on this at the moment,” says I3D. “It would benefit us as well to rent servers to the general public. But EA/Dice is in the driver’s seat.”
We have reached out to EA for an official statement on the matter and will update when we hear back.