Thecatastrophic launch ofBattlefield 2042is by now hardly a secret, having resulted in a huge letdown for the series' fans. In a recent meeting call at EA, a declaration has surfaced, stating that part of the blame for the game’s disastrous debut can be ascribed to the launch ofHalo Infinitemultiplayer.
TheBattlefieldfirst-person shooter series has had a long and mostly successful history, with the first installment by developers DICE dating back to 2002.Battlefield 2042is the latest release of the saga, featuring a futuristic setting. Like its predecessors, it is centered on class-based shooting gameplay, together with vehicular combat and large-scale maps. The game adopted the popular Battle Pass model, offering additional cosmetic items with it.
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The latest controversy started when the site Xfire released a report detailing a meeting call at EA, in which chief operating officer Laura Miele offered reasons whyBattlefield 2042flopped. Several issues surfaced, such as the obsolescence of the Frostbite engine, as well as various problems related to the pandemic, but one of the reasons behind the game’s failure was stated to beits concurrent release withHalo Infinite: the contrast with the much more polished 343 Industries' title resulting in harsh reception for EA’s own.
EA has been swift in denying having linked the failure of its own game to the success ofHalo Infinite, emphasizing the self-critical part of the meeting call, and the many other reasons that surfaced in it. The damage control move arrives whena petition to claim refunds ofBattlefield 2042is surpassing 200.000 signatures, highlighting the scale of the community’s bitterness at the state of the game.
The failure of EA’s latest project is made even worse by the fact thatBattlefield 2042is a multiplayer-only title, resulting in a difficult to recoverbleeding player count, with many fans going back to its predecessorBattlefield 5. The disaster is quite unprecedented in the franchise’s history, with some even questioning if it isn’t time for a change of the series' historical developers.
A common escape road does exist for catastrophic launches: thetransitioning to free-to-play modelin an attempt to revive the game. It might be, however, an unpopular move with the thousands of gamers who bought the title at full price.
Battlefield 2042is available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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