Battlefield 1 rental servers to be handled directly by EA, not third-party companies

If you want something done right, do it yourself. That's what Electronic Arts probably thought regarding their server rental service. Unlike in the past, for Battlefield 1 EA will not be using third-party server rental companies.

Electronic Arts have announced that for Battlefield 1 they will not be using third-party companies to provide public and private server rental, as it was in the past. Instead, everything will be handled by the publisher. In the latest news on Battlefield’s official website EA detailed the new Rent-a-Server Program system and explained what benefits players can expect from that change:

Starting close after launch, you will be able to rent a server through the in-game store of Battlefield 1. 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.

In other words, EA themselves will see to the quality of servers as well as handle any requests for support from players. Renting a server will let you customize game rules, such as server name, map rotation, game mode, various gameplay settings, and more. However, this also comes with some extra restrictions, that may upset especially PC players, who are used to having almost full control over the server settings. EA wrote: “We might restrict number of game modes available at launch and gradually enable them based on feedback and other circumstances, but you can expect that we’ll keep adding customization options and UI design throughout 2016”. More details are to be revealed closer to the release.

Battlefield 1 is going to launch the Friday after next – on October 21. The game will simultaneously hit PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.