Battlefield 2042: What Went Wrong?

It’s no secret that morale in the Battlefield community has reached an all-time low.  The game is in such a poor state that the moderators on the Battlefield 2042 subreddit are debating on whether or not they should shut down the entire board.  Content creators who pay their bills from making videos and streaming Battlefield are being forced to pursue other options because the player base is… well, gone. 

The outrage from the community boiled over after a Tweet from Andy McNamara, EA’s Global Director of Integrated Communications.  Some called the Tweet poorly worded and ill-advised, but we will let you judge that for yourselves. 

McNamara stated on his first day back from the holiday break: “Back to work today, check Reddit and Twitter and Battlefield fans are pissed we didn’t do enough updates or communication during the holiday break. Guys, people gotta rest.” He continues on to describe the fanbase’s expectations as “brutal,” and explains that what they want will take time to implement, as well as other quite concerning remarks.

The reason this Tweet sparked backlash within the community is because the majority of players feel that the game is incomplete and never should have been released in its current state. 

It was the decisions made on an executive level that have led us to where we are now and it’s hard not to have empathy towards the developers who were forced to adhere to an unachievable timeline for the release of Battlefield 2042 and then thrust into a maelstrom of issues that stemmed from that premature release. 

This is not to say that the community’s outrage isn’t justified.  Who wouldn’t be angry when they have been assured by Battlefield’s leadership that their concerns were being heard and upon the game’s release it is discovered that while the developers might have been listening to the community, they implemented none of their feedback. 

The fanbase’s needs were pretty simple, in fact.  They want server browsers.  They want a scoreboard.  Easier ways to communicate.  They want the tried and tested class system back.  Those don’t sound like “brutal expectations”.

Unfortunately, the fanbase is now in limbo as the developers figure out which problems they can even address, as a complete overhaul of the current class system would take a massive amount of time, work and money.  Which means we are most likely stuck with the broken core mechanics. 

Andy’s comments around this have been pretty clear.  They have dropped the ball and they know it.  “We have to figure out what is possible” loosely translates to “we can’t change the gameplay mechanics because it’s too late.”

Instead of implementing the feedback they were given during the developing phase of the game, they’re now playing an almost impossible game of catch-up. 

The player reviews for the game are what is truly brutal.  The fanbase is not happy and all they have is lip-service from the leadership.  There is truly very little to be optimistic about.

Look, it’s pretty safe to say that the community would have been happy with an updated version of Battlefield 4 and while there’s little chance of 2042 being revived into an enjoyable, playable game, perhaps there’s hope for the next one.  As a true fan of Battlefield since its inception, I have to hope so.