It must be said that Battlefield 2042 underwent one of the most tumultuous release periods in the history of gaming. It was something of a shell of a game, riddled in equal parts with broken promises and irreparable issues. Now, more than a year after the game launched, Battlefield 2042’s development team sat down with PCGamer to discuss more on the game’s shortcomings and future.
Reportedly, DICE now feels that enough work has been done on Battlefield 2042 that it finally feels like it should have when it launched in November 2021. There’s some truth in that – numbers are on the up and there’s a more positive vibe coming out of the community, but it does seem that there’s still a long road ahead.
Should They Have Given Up?
In June, it was reported that DICE was so intent on fixing Battlefield 2042 that it refused to kickstart any new projects until the game was in a place they felt good about. Now, several months later, senior members of the team at DICE are openly expressing their jubilation at the state the game is in:
We’ve got the game and the quality to a place where the team wants to bring more players in … We’re there. I think that’s a good point for us.
Ryan McArthur, Senior Producer at DICE
While a vast portion of the community is still nursing bitter feelings at the early-days treatment and reception of Battlefield 2042, work has certainly been done to improve the platform immeasurably. For the longest time, the most popular part of Battlefield 2042 was the Portal platform, which allowed players to go ‘back in time’ and experience old Battlefield maps and modes.
It was a nostalgic trip, but it still felt so much more enjoyable than whatever Battielfed 2042 content was on offer.
In the interview with PC Gamer, another senior team member highlighted how much work DICE has been doing hand-in-hand with the very vocal community members:
We’re really keen on getting that feedback now and recognising that our players are the one that love Battlefield, they’ve always loved Battlefield, and there is a lot that we can learn from them.
Alexia Christofi, Associate Producer at DICE
Let’s Be Optimistic
Battlefield is a titan of a franchise, but it has suffered a fall from grace in recent years. Most recently, the game peaked with the likes of Battlefield 1, which offered up a hyper-realistic, uber-gritty rendition of the First World War. From there, it arguably went downhill, before hitting rock bottom with Battlefield 2042.
There’s still plenty of life left in the franchise, despite one fan once suggesting that EA should cut its losses, scrap Battlefield, and sell DICE entirely. At present, we know that the future of Battlefield is ‘in pre-production’, but with DICE currently righting the ship with Battlefield 2042, the next iteration in the franchise still seems like a long way off.
If you’re eager for more Battlefield coverage, read about how Battlefield 2042 recently made its way to Xbox Game Pass.
