When grasping the direction that Battlefield 2042 is heading, it is certainly upsetting in comparison to other first-person shooter releases that arrived around the same time. Although launching in advanced to Halo Infinite, the multiplayer beta for 343 Industries revealed to be more populated than the Battlefield 2042 on Steam. However, the trouble does not stop there.
In a more recent incident for Battlefield 2042, associated developer Ripple Effect Studios pulled a new mode from the game, Zombie Survival. Shipped through the new Battlefield Portal hub, the game type was discovered to be a XP farm for users to earn easy experience and was ultimately pulled from the game as the team expressed it needs more time in the oven.
Overall, now it appears the game will be heading in a new, free direction according to one statement. From industry insider @_Tom_Henderson_ on Twitter, Electronic Arts is concerned about the poor performance of Battlefield 2042 and is considering shifting the game to the free-to-play model.
In terms of how Electronic Arts will tackle this decision is left uncertain. In a later tweet, the leaked explains that the decision is not one that happens overnight and it will be more than a couple weeks to see what the publisher ultimately does with the game. “As I said, it’s a very fluid situation with a lot of moving parts. Obv they have to fix the game, but I think they are stuck on ‘well how do we get people to buy the full game and play AOW’.”
Altogether, the insider suggests that DICE be more transparent with the overall plans for Battlefield 2042 before it truly loses a devastating amount of attention. “The fundamental flaws with the game need to be addressed, a roadmap of the future needs laying out, and EA/DICE need to acknowledge the mistakes and be more transparent.” He goes on to suggest issuing Battlefield Portal as a free client with one map per featured Battlefield.
What are your thoughts on Battlefield 2042 going free-to-play?
Battlefield 2042 is out now for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.
