EA has a new service for lonely Battlefield 1 players called Premium Friends. Don't have enough real-life friends with the best maps? Let EA hook you up with some uber-elite buddies who do have access to play with for free.

The new program, based on feedback from the Battlefield 1 community, allows players with a Premium Pass to invite the premium-less into groups to play on all maps, even if they don't have the content. However, while those players can play on the maps, only the "Premium Enabled" get extra perks, such as XP, weapons or vehicles from the DLC the map is associated with. and tracking toward unique medals and codexes. 

The goal is "to make sure all maps of the game have as many players as possible to secure a good experience for everyone," Battlefield 1 producer Andreas Skoglund said in a blog post announcing the feature. Of course, if you are in a group with one Premium Friend, and they drop out, access for the premium-less friends ends.

A trial run of the feature will be unveiled at Battlefest starting tomorrow. The dev team will continue to take feedback through the test phase and make changes as needed.

Battlefield 1 Premium Pass players got the first round of DLC, They Shall Not Pass, two weeks ago, introducing the French Army, a new elite class, new weapons and four new maps. Everyone else got the DLC yesterday. Three more DLC packs are planned by the end of the year.

So buddy up with a Premium, mon ami, if you want to jump into those new maps. It's a great idea, but the name needs work.