After Flashpoint, one of the game modes we really wanted to bring to the competitive community was Squad Obliteration. We hosted it in many events throughout Battlefield 4 and missed it dearly, yet with Portal here, it didn’t have to remain a distant memory.

At the start of 2023, we teamed up with NoNam3 to make this mode a reality again. He had already done some groundwork, and we knew that together we could create something special for the competitive community.

After four months of hard work, especially with Jordy, Brett, and L4urens, we were getting ready to launch the mode in May. We had spent a lot of time studying the old Battlefield 4 maps and their design, together with playing dozens of 4v4 internal scrims that led to constant changes to perfect the mode to what it is now. Unfortunately, life had other plans, and we paused the project for a couple of months. This is the last project we worked on with Jordy before he passed, and we wanted to make sure everyone got to experience it. We know he’ll be watching proudly.

We hope you enjoy the mode, and welcome to ESB Squad Obliteration!

Dating back to Battlefield 4, we have always believed that a competitive scene should feature multiple modes that showcase different playstyles and skills. From the Battlefield 4 days of Domination / Defuse / Domination and Domination / Squad Obliteration / Domination, we now have Flashpoint and Squad Obliteration in 2042.

We feel that both these modes will provide incredible competitive experiences and complement each other in events, providing players with much-needed variety and new ways to showcase their talents.

Here are some game mode features and mechanics that are important to learn:

• While carrying the bomb, its location is updated every 2 seconds on the minimap (firing will instantly update its location).
• Disarming the M-COM will spawn the bomb on top of the M-COM. Run over it to pick it back up.
• If the bomb is dropped, either intentionally or when you are downed, then it will reset if it is not picked up within 35 seconds.
  • Press your interact button to drop the bomb intentionally while carrying it.
• Running with the bomb into the redzone, your spawn, or any restricted area, will reset the bomb after 5 seconds. If the bomb is dropped in these areas, then it’s instantly reset.
• If the bomb is reset, a new bomb will spawn in 5 seconds at the original spawn location.
• After an M-COM explodes, a new bomb will spawn after 25 seconds.
• If you are downed, the camera is locked intentionally to avoid abusing the kill cam to spectate the enemy.

As we all know from Flashpoint, the maps of 2042 aren’t designed with esports in mind. We’ve felt it wise to remove specific areas on maps that were detrimental to competitive play.

If a player enters one of these areas, the game will display a Restricted Area warning at both the top and top right corner of the screen and provide a 5-second countdown to leave the area. If a player doesn’t leave, the game will kill the player, just like if he was out of bounds on any other part of the map.

While detailed screenshots will be published over the coming days, here is a quick overview of the banned areas:

• Arica Harbor: the two yellow cranes and the last two floors of the Construction Building.
• Breakaway: the big Warehouse roof.
• Discarded: the storage Building roof and the top sections of the Ship.
• Manifest: the radio tower zipline, A M-COM Tower, and the two highest floors of the main building.
• Spearhead: the very top of the main building.
• Stranded: the top of the ship.

The design team will keep an eye out for feedback from the community regarding the current banned areas and make changes to them accordingly.

The current 4v4 Squad Obliteration ruleset uses an almost exact copy of our 4v4 Flashpoint ruleset. Right now, the only two changes are that Lis’s G-84 TGM rocket launcher is banned, as it does magically become more useful in a mode like Squad Obliteration, and that teams can only have 1 Engineer class operator active at any time (instead of 2).

While there will be some small differences between both rulesets because of how the modes play, the idea is to make sure that both rulesets evolve together to provide consistency to players and viewers alike.

We look forward to gathering your feedback on other items that do work in Flashpoint but may not in Squad Obliteration.

Scrims, feedback, summer holidays, and then finally, events! There is no plan for any Squad Obliteration Test Cups. However, we will be hosting events again starting in September, so make sure you practice and get ready to play as soon as the summer holidays are over!

Click HERE to visit the ESB Squad Obliteration HUB for all the latest information, rules, map overviews, and events.

Don’t forget to use our Discord server to provide any feedback.