Battlefield 1's Premium Pass will be free for a week after Battlefield 5's open beta

Any battlefield is as good as another, once you've got the taste for blood. Sound reasoning for a generous giveaway next week, at least. Despite the full game's delay, Battlefield 5's open beta is still scheduled for Thursday, September 6th (with early access for some tomorrow on the 4th), to run until September 11th.

Rather than leave players desperate for more soldiers to shoot post-beta, EA will be giving away Battlefield 1's Premium Pass (which includes all expansions, plus a few perks) free for a week until September 18th. Grab it during the giveaway, keep it forever. It's not quite the retroactive death of season passes I've wished for, but I'll take it. Update: To clarify, the Premium Pass is a DLC Season Pass. Not the base game.

All told, the Premium Pass for Battlefield 1 adds a lot to the game, as you can see in the official info-blurb picture below. 16 new maps, many of them used in Operations, BF1's intriguing chained online campaigns that Battlefield 5 is set to expand on. It doesn't do much to improve the dour and depressing tone of the game (it wouldn't be WW1 otherwise, really), but there's a lot of variety to those new environments. Plus, for the first time BF1's players won't be divided between haves and have-nots.

After this giveaway, EA will be resuming their Road To Battlefield V events in Battlefield 1 and 4. While nothing too dramatic, players will be able to earn a few new cosmetic weapon skins and dog-tags for BFV by playing its predecessors. Even after the launch of Battlefield The Fifth, I expect the earlier games to remain populated for quite some time, especially as the separate WW1, WW2 and WW3 settings each have their own appeals.

The Battlefield 5 open beta begins on September 6th (or tomorrow, if you're got early access), and on Tuesday, September 11th next week, the Battlefield 1 Premium Pass should be free to add to your account and keep forever on Origin.