DICE announced today that it's launching a Community Test Environment for Battlefield 1, where upcoming and experimental patches will be made available for intrepid players who want to try them first and offer feedback.
For now, the CTE will be used to test the next big update, but down the line DICE says it will include "new features, improved/changed content, and experiments that aren’t yet (and may never be) ready for public release."
"Select members in the community" and "Battlefield veterans" will be the first allowed into the CTE, and are being sent codes directly. The rest of us will have to sign up using the Battlefield 1 Companion App on iOS, Android, or Windows 10 Mobile. CTE access isn't guaranteed (though the instructions don't make it sound super exclusive) and requires ownership of the Battlefield Premium Pass, which includes all the upcoming DLC.
I've downloaded the app, but so far the signup hasn't appeared. Further investigation reveals it likely won't appear until tomorrow at the earliest.
But we at least know what we're looking forward to. On the new battlefield_live subreddit, DICE has laid out what'll be in the first CTE patch. It's a big update, with a ton of bug fixes and weapon tweaks. Many will probably be happy to see that gas grenade duration has been decreased, but I'll be sad to see my noxious, irritating friends get nerfed.
The CTE will be totally separate from the regular game, so ranking and unlocks won't carry over—we'll be starting from scratch. As a little bonus, aside from testing new patches, DICE says CTE players will be treated to "exclusive events and what we like to refer to as CTE fun." I'll update this story when the signup process on the mobile app is up and running.
