Battlefield 4's Winter Update is here, looking to warm the hearts of many who still frequent DICE's military shooter one year and five months after launch. The major game update is now rolling out on all platforms, a roughly 1.34 GB patch on consoles and 400 MB patch on PC. Among some of its most notable features is the introduction of the Squad Obliteration game mode, an eSports-oriented game mode that developer DICE LA hopes will offer "something fast and challenging for the players and an entertaining experience for those who watch the matches."

Settings that differ from the original Obliteration game mode include:
-  No vehicles, no parachute spawns
-  Secondary base spawns are made available
-  First team to destroy two out of three bases wins the round
-  Bomb carrier position is only known to the enemy team if spotted

The update also introduces new Premium playlists - 'Large Scale Battles', 'The Battlefield', and 'Close Quarters' - through the game’s new and improved Quickmatch menu. Here are a few of the specifics:
-  New player gating: New players can now matchmake into special servers until reaching rank 10, giving them a chance to learn playing Battlefield 4 against other new players.
-  Ranked Preset support: Players now have the added option to Quickmatch into Ranked servers as an addition to the Official preset available in the past.
-  Premium Playlists: Three new playlists are added catering to various play styles and including maps from all expansions and base game combined.

Netcode improvements are also present, including:
- Network prioritization and filtering has been improved. This now prioritizes health/damage, enemy players and vehicles above all.
- Vehicles now use a larger (front) hemi-sphere shape for collision improvements
- Aiming down sights, or zooming in sitting in a vehicle or on foot, utilizes an even longer range cone for better target acquisition at a distance