All About Interwebz: Battlefield 2042 short film premieres next week, setting the scene for all-out war

EA Dice is set to premiere 'Exodus' next week, a short film set in the world of Battlefield 2042.

"Witness the events that will trigger an all-out war in this standalone short film set in the World of 2042," a description for the short film's teaser trailer reads.

The brief trailer for Exodus starts with a masked voice saying: "The world wants to forget we exist. We will force them to see." The trailer then cuts to a large ship caught in a storm at sea, then fighter jets shooting from the sky, before showing what appears to be one of Battlefield 2042's No-Pat soldiers running through a street strewn in rubbish and abandoned cars. A splash screen then reveals that this short film will premiere on August 12 at 8am PT / 4pm BST / 11am ET (or August 13 at 1am AEST). You can check out the teaser trailer for yourself below:

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In addition to the short film premiere, EA Dice also tweeted that fans will be able to "witness the locations of Battlefield 2042 through the eyes of embedded journalist Kayvan Bechir starting tomorrow till August 12". So we imagine the official Battlefield account will be posting "on-the-ground" images of Battlefield 2042's maps until the unveiling of Exodus.

Analysis: what will Exodus be about?

The official Battlefield account tweeted the teaser trailer, saying "Unpacking the world of #Battlefield 2042 #WeAreNoPats". So, while developer EA Dice hasn't revealed exactly what this Exodus short film will be about (or how long it will last), we assume it will act as a story trailer to set up the events of Battlefield 2042 by perhaps explaining in more detail how the game's No-Pat soldiers came to be.

We already know that Battlefield 2042 is set in a world that is on the brink of complete devastation. Food, energy and water shortages have led to the “greatest refugee crisis in human history”, following the failure of many of the world’s nations. Among these refugees are the “Non-Patriated” (also known as the No-Pats), made up of families, farmers, engineers and soldiers, who have been left without a nation to call their own.

The last two superpowers that remain are the United States and Russia, who are battling it out for control of the globe’s last remaining resources. In order to survive, Non-Pat Specialists join both sides so that, when the final bullet is fired, they have “a seat at the table”. Players will take on the role of one of these Non-Pat Specialists.

We're hoping the Exodus short film shows these events unfolding, giving us a better sense of Battlefield 2042's world ahead of its release on October 22, 2021.