If you want to know how long it takes to clear the Battlefield 1 single-player mode, the main story takes about 6.5 hours to complete. Players who rush through the narrative on lower difficulties can finish it in roughly 5 hours, while those exploring every nook and cranny on hard difficulty will spend around 10 hours. Reaching 100% completion by collecting every field manual, unlocking all codex entries, and securing every achievement pushes playtime up to 28 to 35 hours.
Unlike traditional linear shooters, developer DICE structured the campaign into distinct episodic "War Stories" rather than a single continuous narrative thread. This anthology approach alters how long individual sessions take and changes pacing depending on your chosen playstyle.
Breakdown by Playstyle
Your total playtime depends heavily on whether you skim the core missions or hunt down hidden collectibles. Here is what to expect from each standard approach:
- Main Story Only: 6 to 7 hours. Focused strictly on critical objectives across all War Stories on normal difficulty.
- Main Plus Sides: 9 to 11 hours. Involves dabbling in side challenges, picking up some field manuals, and occasionally replaying tough encounters.
- Completionist (100%): 28 to 35 hours. Requires gathering all 66 hidden Field Manuals, unlocking all 53 Codex Entries, and completing every specific gameplay challenge.
Chapter-by-Chapter Length
The single-player campaign consists of a prologue and five distinct War Stories. Each vignette focuses on different characters, hardware, and combat environments across World War I.
- Storm of Steel (Prologue): About 15 to 20 minutes. A cinematic introduction that cycles you through multiple perspectives of soldiers falling in combat on the Western Front.
- Through Mud and Blood: Roughly 1.5 hours. Follows a British tank crew inside a Mark V Landship named Black Bess. It mixes open sandbox skirmishes with slower, stealth-oriented salvage objectives.
- Friends in High Places: Around 1 to 1.5 hours. Centers on aerial combat and dogfights over the Western Front from the cockpit of a British biplane.
- Avanti Savoia!: Roughly 1 hour. Set in the Italian Alps, this chapter equips you in heavy Arditi armor to storm enemy mountain fortresses.
- The Runner: About 1 hour. Takes place during the Gallipoli Landings, following an ANZAC dispatch runner through intense trench bombardments and open beach operations.
- Nothing Is Written: Roughly 1.5 to 2 hours. Set in the Middle Eastern desert alongside the Arab Revolt, focusing heavily on open-world infiltration, stealth, and destroying an Ottoman armored train.
Factors That Affect Your Playtime
Pacing varies depending on choices you make before hitting start. Difficulty selection is the most significant variable. Playing on Hard mode forces cautious progression, especially during open-world stealth segments like Nothing Is Written, often doubling the time spent on specific encounters.
Hunting collectibles also extends the clock. The 66 Field Manuals are well-hidden off the beaten path, often tucked inside ruins, trenches, or secondary structures. Similarly, earning Codex entries requires specific feats, such as performing stealth takedowns or using specific weapons under tight constraints. If you ignore these extras, you will finish near the 5-hour mark. If you inspect every corner, expect a much longer journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you play the Battlefield 1 campaign offline?
Yes. Once the game files are installed and updated, the entire single-player campaign is fully playable without an active internet connection.
Does difficulty affect achievement unlocks?
Yes. Finishing the campaign on Normal difficulty unlocks The Great War achievement, while clearing it on Hard mode unlocks The War to End All Wars.
Are there rewards in multiplayer for finishing the campaign?
Yes. Completing specific War Stories and finding hidden Field Manuals unlocks unique weapon skins, melee weapon pieces, and dog tags that carry over to your multiplayer profile.
Is the campaign worth playing if I only care about multiplayer?
Many players view the single-player mode as a polished extended tutorial. While short, its high production values, atmospheric sound design, and historical framing make it a worthwhile afternoon playthrough before jumping into online servers.
