Ghost Recon Frontline: Release Date, Trailer, Features And Everything You Need To Know

Just when you thought the battle royale phase was cooling down, Ubisoft announces its second attempt at the genre with Ghost Recon Frontline. This new take supposedly starts with the tactical feel of the Ghost Recon series and brings it to a larger scale.

The battle royale market is already pretty stacked. With the likes of Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone standing atop the pile, it is hard to see what Frontline could offer the genre. But of course, we shouldn’t judge before learning more.

Let’s dig into the genre’s newest contender by laying out everything we know about Ghost Recon Frontline.

Ghost Recon Frontline has not had a good start and since a very ropey start to the beta, it has been delayed indefinitely.

Ubisoft claims that Frontline is a “very personal take on a military authentic massive PvP shooter”. Notice how it never outright labels Frontline as a battle royale in its announcement video. It's clear, however, that this is an evolution of the formula.

Teams of three will drop into a large, sprawling map — more on that later — where they will gear up, gather intel, and try to extract. Extraction may attract the attention of other teams who can then intercept you and steal all of your intel. This won’t be your typical “last man standing” battle royale. It’s actually far closer to Hunt:Showdown than Warzone or Apex Legends. It doesn’t look like it will feature a traditional battle royale closing circle, either. However, it is home to a Warzone-like player count, with over 100 operators in each match.

Expeditions is the flagship mode of Frontline, which is also promised to launch with more casual PvP outings for players that want to get right into the action.

The game is free-to-play and will not cost anything to buy.

With the free-to-play model, we can expect extensive post-launch support. This will likely take the form of free-content updates and paid battle passes. In the announcement video, Ubisoft mentioned its evolving world, meaning we should see changes in-game much like Warzone’s current crumbling Verdansk.

Ubisoft explained that Frontline will feature a deep progression system across both weapons and contractors. Contractors, which fall into classes like assault and recon, will allow players to adopt different playstyles, similar to Rainbow Six Siege operators. Ubisoft plans to add more contractors in post-launch seasonal content, so don’t be too surprised if some familiar faces crop up in the future.

Thanks to the progressions system, players can build unique teams to tackle situations in a variety of manners. Contractors will be able to drop in structures such as sniper’s nests and elevated cover. This won’t be anything like Fortnite’s building mechanic, though, as all structures are pre-set.

On top of the gameplay variety brought in by weapons and contractors, your team’s approach will affect matches in Frontline. You can gear up, find the intel, and try to get out as quickly as possible. Or you can lay in the shadows, waiting to reap the rewards of another team's hard work. With its mix of weapons, contractors and playstyles, the Frontline meta may take some time to discover.

Giant maps are really the standard for battle royale these days, and Ghost Recon Frontline is no different. The island of Drakemoor seems to be taking a page out of Ghost Recon Breakpoint’s book. Drakemoor is an expansive and varied map that features multiple “biomes”. This likely means we’ll get snowy areas contrasting the desert areas and so on.

Brief glimpses at the map in the trailer make it look massive. It will be interesting to see how Ubisoft handles a lack of the encroaching circle. Will the attention-grabbing extracts be enough? Or will matches drag out thanks to sneaky players hiding in bushes and buildings? We’ll get our first chance to find out in the upcoming European closed test.