In November of last year, DICE and EA released the latest title in the Battlefield franchise in the form of Battlefield 2042. Touted as a multiplayer-focused, massive-scale shooter meant to capture the classic chaos of Battlefield gameplay in an ambitious futuristic setting, the game launched with a whimper as opposed to a bang. With a trend of negative reception to the most recent titles in the Battlefield franchise, questions are starting to be asked of DICE/EA and its direction with the iconic gaming IP.
DICE, founded in 1992, took over the development of the Battlefield IP when it inherited the acclaimed Battlefield 1942 with the acquisition of Refraction Games in 2000. With over two decades of development experience within the FPS genre with Battlefield, DICE have of course been responsible with some of the best entries the franchise has to offer. From the heights of Battlefield 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, it is clear DICE have faltered with recent titles, especially the controversial Battlefield 2042.
Battlefield 5: The Start of a Slippery Slope
Among general discourse between fans, many point to Battlefield 5 as the first Battlefield title that began to show cracks with the once-winning formula that DICE and EA have been utilizing since its joint-takeover of the IP. Battlefield 5, set during WW2, famously drew pre-release criticism from fans of the franchise, with the official release trailer for Battlefield 5 receiving 300,000 dislikes within its first week of being uploaded.
While this backlash was superficial, deriving from what many considered to be an uncharacteristic lack of historical accuracy displayed in the trailer (and not down to something more tangible like gameplay issues), it did lead to a significant rift between DICE and the Battlefield player base. The controversy and back-and-forth between fans and developers saw EA Chief Design Officer Patrick Söderlund leave the company after telling fans "either accept it or don't buy the game," marking the start of a shift in the old guard of both DICE and EA.
While the actual gameplay of Battlefield 5 was generally well-received upon release, it still drew criticisms concerning the frequency of glitches and an uninspired campaign mode, with the former criticism being another trend that Battlefield 2042 would also inherit.
Battlefield 2042: A Missed Opportunity
While Battlefield 5 garnered negative attention pre-release and redeemed itself post-release, Battlefield 2042 has struggled to do the same. Battlefield 2042's trailers showcased the high-octane nature of the gameplay it was attempting to foster, as well as the variety of new environmental and player-led game mechanics. Its futuristic setting freed it from the potential critiques of "historical accuracy" that plagued its predecessor.
The game is entirely multiplayer-focused and was one of several AAA titles that released in November, most notably in direct competition with other FPS giant Call of Duty: Vanguard. Battlefield 2042 promised intense and densely populated 128-player games on the latest hardware, with classic modes coming to fresh, expansive and natural disaster-prone maps.
It additionally boasted the brand-new Escape From Tarkov-esque "Hazard Zone" mode, where gamers compete against other player-controlled squads and AI to collect data drives around large environments, extracting with their lives or losing all they've worked for in death. Finally, a tertiary and extremely ambitious mode resonated with fans in the form of "Portal," a mode where gamers could create and play custom game modes within older titles, namely Battlefield 1942, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3.
While that brief synopsis may sound like an attractive prospect, as it did for many Battlefield fans, it was in execution where it seriously faltered. Upon launch and the ensuing months after release, the game was littered with bugs and glitches, many of which had already been outlined in the mixed-reaction of the open beta for the game. Players additionally reported a litany of quality of life downgrades in comparison to previous titles, serious performance issues on last-gen consoles, and an overbearing lack of polish to gameplay balance.
How DICE Proceeds Following Battlefield 2042's Launch
The hype surrounding Battlefield 2042 pre-release was palpable, which makes the poor state in which it was launched all the more upsetting. Battlefield 2042 represents a glaring missed opportunity for the franchise to re-establish itself following the aforementioned lull of Battlefield 5.
The extent of how negative of an effect this poor state of launch has had on the game is most visible when looking at the player count for Battlefield 2042, with it astonishingly not even finding itself in the top 50 most-played Xbox games four months into its life-cycle. This lack of player base longevity is no better on PC, with Steam records showing a 24-hour peak of 6,479 players worldwide, a fraction of its all-time reported peak of over 100,000 players.
This drop-off has undoubtedly hindered DICE and EA's roadmap of what it had planned for Battlefield 2042, so much so that recent reports are suggesting the developers may even move to make Battlefiled 2042 free to play in order to partially re-stabilize the player base and viably execute its vision of additional content post-launch.
While this has the potential to partially revive the game, the unfinished state of release is much more concerning for the negative publicity surrounding Battlefield 2042's poor launch. With similar fates of Fallout 76 and famously Cyberpunk 2077 deriving from their poor launches that preceded Battlefield 2042, DICE finds itself in a similarly damaging scenario with Battlefield 2042's launch.
Considering this, it seems feasible that DICE could take a step back from the Battlefield franchise. Both Battlefield and Call of Duty, two titans of the FPS genre, have faced similar downward trajectories in recent years, and with Microsoft's recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it is possible that the production and development of Call of Duty is likely to change, or at the least be shaken up.
This provides a perfect opportunity for DICE and EA to re-evaluate its own development formula, especially considering the recent departure of DICE Head of Design Fawzi Mesmar as a result of Battlefield 2042's release. A fresh development team, formula and strategy could be implemented if DICE re-evaluate its approach to Battlefield, and ultimately serve to re-invigorate the long-term fans who want to experience that classic Battlefield feeling following the disappointment of Battlefield 2042.
Battlefield 2042 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
