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EA increases Battlefield 4 server capacity after Battlefield 2042 reveal sparks player spike

Reinforcements.

EA has increased the Battlefield 4 server capacity after a player spike following the Battlefield 2042 reveal.

In a post on EA's website, community manager 'Straatford' said the company had noticed queue times in the US West region for the 2013 DICE-developed shooter were far longer than in other regions. In response, EA increased server capacity in this region, so players should expect less waiting to get into a game.

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"We were absolutely blown away by your excitement and reactions to the recent Battlefield 2042 reveal," Straatford said.

"Since then, many of you have jumped back into Battlefield 4 to already get a taste of the return to all-out-warfare. We've been monitoring your experience and noticed queue times in the US West region were far longer than in other regions. Good news, we've increased server capacity for this region - you can expect less waiting, and more playing."

A quick glance at Battlefield 4 concurrent player numbers over at SteamDB reveals a spike that began in early June and steadily grew in the run up to the reveal of Battlefield 2042 on 10th June, peaking with 11,801 concurrent players on Sunday 13th June.

Battlefield 4 on PC specifically will have also benefited from being a free giveaway via Prime Gaming. Any Amazon Prime member has been able to download the game on PC since early June, with the offer expiring on 21st June. I imagine the game has plenty of renewed interest because of this offer alone.

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It looks like Battlefield 4 isn't the only Battlefield game to enjoy a Battlefield 2042-fueled jump. Battlefield 1 has seen a June bump on Steam, as has Battlefield 5.

Clearly, the excitement around Battlefield 2042 has caused some fans to dip back into older games. Battlefield 4 of course launched with a raft of technical issues that made for a disastrous launch, but DICE stuck with the game and, three years after release, Martin Robinson declared Battlefield 4 one of the generation's best shooters.

Now we're onto Battlefield 2042. For more on that game, check out Martin's preview.