Talk about Battlefield 2042 It is also to mention one of the biggest disappointments of 2021. The game had generated too much expectation for returning to the modern / futuristic setting after passing through the First and Second World. However, in the end the launch was a real disaster in the full extent of the word. Worse still, it seems that EA They are not aware that they are the only ones to blame for the situation. But before entering to express an opinion, first it is necessary to recapitulate the events.
This week it emerged that Laura Miele, EA’s chief operating officer, reportedly commented internally that the surprise release halo-infiniteas well as its good condition, was not favorable for Battlefield 2042. The directive would also have justified the poor state of the game due to the recent update to the Frostbite graphics engine and, of course, because the developers had to work from home due to COVID-19.
“That they had a close launch [ambos juegos] has not been favourable, since halo-infinite was a very polished title while Battlefield 2042 it contained many errors and was not so well finished.
The statements were filtered by Tom Henderson, whose reports are usually true. In addition, the information was supported by VGC, which in recent times has proven to be one of the most respected fonts in the industry. Henderson added another excerpt from Miele’s words:
“We launched Early Access on a Thursday night in the US and on a Friday morning in Europe and Asia. The game was stable. The mean time between failures in game hours was in line with industry standards, and the reception and early review was good. Daily player retention looked strong over the weekend. But then things started to flip. The following Monday, Halo made the surprise launch of its multiplayer mode. It was a small segment of the game but it was very well polished and it wasn’t a favorable comparison for our experience given some bugs and polish issues that we had.
For its part, EA told pc gamer what filtration was not accurate because they didn’t have the full context. “These stories do not accurately capture the discussion and context, which was a deep and very humble internal conversation about the recent launch of Battlefield. These were key learnings. and actions we’re taking, without blaming external factors,” said John Reseburg, EA’s vice president of communications.
Only EA is responsible for the disaster of Battlefield 2042
When you release a game that meets the appropriate quality standards, in addition to meeting what the most loyal fans of the franchise expect, the release of another title should not have much influence. Even though the multiplayer of halo-infinite would have seen the light at a later time —together with the campaign in December, for example—, the failure of Battlefield 2042 was already signed.
The main problem of Battlefield 2042 It’s not even the bugs and performance issues -these are usually fixed by updates-, but the catastrophic design errors that completely ruined the gameplay and, incidentally, the identity that always distinguished the saga.
What do I mean? Firstly, DICE decided get rid of the class systema distinctive element of Battlefield. Instead, they went with operators with skills and tools of their own, while the allocation of weapons was left completely free. On paper, it didn’t seem like a bad idea, as it brought fresh air to the usual formula. However, the drawbacks of the proposal began to be seen before the launch.
Since the public beta it was already possible to verify that the operators simply did not work. The balance between their abilities was broken and the players were limited to selecting one or two, which were the ones with the most advantage on the battlefield. This caused the players to make a choice in favor of their individual performance, leaving aside collective action.
Team play is over Battlefield 2042. Due to the operators, each player is on their own. Cooperation and coordination is almost nil. This problem, in addition, is increased by the design of the maps, whose dimensions and location of the points of interest cause you to spend most of the time running from here to there.
The reason EA got rid of the class system is actually merely economic. The fact of incorporating operators allows to monetize Battlefield 2042 beyond launch. How? offering skins for the soldiers. This business has been extremely profitable in games like Fortnite or war zone. The problem is that the company did not anticipate that ignoring the identity of the game would sooner or later lead to massive player abandonment. The skins They are not for sale because there is no one to buy them.
So, involving factors external to the failure of Battlefield 2042 it does not make any sense. The game failed because of wrong decisions made inside EA and DICE, not outside of them. At the moment, those decisions have the franchise submerged in the worst moment in its history. As I write this post, the refund petition has already surpassed 200,000 signatures on Chage.org.