Battlefield 2042 seemingly has some form of crossplay or cross-progression, but EA and DICE aren't planning on talking about it right now. Given the scope and scale of Battlefield 2042, it's not entirely surprising to imagine the game will feature some form of crossplay, but it will be a while before fans actually find out how it works.
Battlefield 2042 is rumored to have crossplay, though nothing has been outright confirmed. That said, it would be awfully strange if the game totally missed the boat on the recent surge in crossplay games. The vast majority of online-centric AAA titles like Call of Duty have been launching regularly with the ability to play with friends regardless of their platform. Thankfully, EA seems to be aware of this as it didn't outright deny that Battlefield 2042 will have crossplay.
During a press event for Battlefield 2042, EA stated it had nothing to say regarding crossplay and cross-progression at this time, but teased more in the months leading up to launch. Surely if there was no crossplay, EA would just say there is no such thing planned, so it seems as though it's going to happen, it's just a matter of when and how. It has already been confirmed that Battlefield 2042 supports 128 players on current-gen and PC, so having as large a pool of players as possible is going to be pretty crucial.
Although this game will definitely have millions of players whether Battlefield 2042 crossplay arrives or not, 128 players is a lot. Being able to have multiple platforms worth of players to play the game with will help ensure servers remain sustainable over time and also let players play with friends, no matter what platforms they own. As for cross-progression, Call of Duty has been great about creating a unified experience on multiple platforms. If someone plays on Xbox but switches to PlayStation, their progress carries over. It would be great to see that also make its way into Battlefield.
When Battlefield 2042 releases this October, it will still be cross-gen. Xbox One and PS4 players will still be stuck with 64 players and smaller maps, so it seems unlikely there will be cross-gen crossplay, but hopefully, EA will let players at least transfer their progress over to the current-gen versions if they choose to upgrade at a later date. It remains to be seen exactly how EA and DICE will approach this, but given there's only a few months before Battlefield 2042 launches, it won't be long until it's made clear.
Battlefield 2042 releases on October 22, 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, and PC.