Battlefield 5 Overtakes Battlefield 2042 in Player Count During the Christmas Holiday

battlefield 2042 player base

Despite being the latest in the franchise, Battlefield 2042’s popularity since launch has seen a sharp decline, as the Battlefield 2042 player base grew frustrated with the current state of the title. So much so, that its predecessor is seeing a rise in players, which is to the detriment (somewhat) of the latest Battlefield game. While initially looked down upon the community, Battlefield 5 seems to be picking up steam and has now overtaken BF2042 in the Steam charts on Christmas day in terms of concurrent players online.

Taking a look at the latest player data provided by Steam for both Battlefield 2042 and Battlefield 5, we can see that during today’s peak, Battlefield 5 has landed at roughly 25K, whilst Battlefield 2042 sits at just 18.8K.

While for the month of December as a whole, Battlefield 2042 has managed to stay ahead for the most part with Battlefield 5 maintaining a relatively close trail (by couple of thousands) of players to 2042 up until Christmas Eve and Christmas day where it overtook the newly released title. The spike for Battlefield 2042 during December 17-20 was due to a free play weekend offered by the company.

While the Steam charts don’t spell the picture on other platforms, in the very least they should be a telling sign of the general community and their feeling towards the latest Battlefield entry. It’s more likely than not that BF2042042 is seeing a similar decline on consoles, though whether Battlefield 5 is seeing the same rise on these platform remains to be seen. That said, consoles or not, it’s still impressive that a Battlefield game originally shunned by the community, is now picking up steam, years after launch.

Since the release of Battlefield 2042, BF5 has seen a resurgence of players despite it being over three years old, and DICE being done with releasing any major content. It saw its last major update in Fall of 2020 with a few smaller ones to follow after for additional fixes. Leading into 2021, DICE made the decision to end support so that they could focus entirely on the release of the soon to be revealed Battlefield 2042.

Is BF5 overtaking BF2042 on the Steam charts worrying for Battlefield 2042’s playerbase? Sound off below and let us know.

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Just a guy
2 years ago

Might want to mention that BFV is on sale for $12.49 on Steam. Which is probably the main reason the player count has shot up. But I suppose that doesn’t fit the “2042 sucks” narrative that seems to drive clicks.

Λεωνίδας Ζουρντός
Reply to  Just a guy
2 years ago

Do you think that the users that are playing bfv instead of bf2042 bought the game now…?I own bfv since the release and i reinstall it 10 days ago cause bf2042 isn’t a true bf title.

jjkin

It’s always easier to be negative, speak and write in absolutes, etc. Agreed, heaven forbid that bf2042 isn’t popular right now but many still hyped for a bf game itch so they revert back to an older game to scratch that itch.

Just like the outcry having female characters, yet truth was there actually significant amount of female soldiers and resistance fighters.

Keith
2 years ago

What would be more interesting is to have included BF1 in the research. I’d bet its even more popular than BFV!

For me personally I jumped back to it after about 6 months of BFV because it was such a let down and the lack of maps and some decisions they made was seemingly the start of a decline we are seeing. It just wasn’t as good.

I know at least on ps4, bf1 servers are full and actually have been even with BFV. There was a resurgence back then with the fan base not being happy with it.

Acetwoone
2 years ago

thats because PC players always like to hold onto moldy crap, give it 3 years and a new BF game comes out they will be loving 2042 by then.

jjkin
Reply to  Acetwoone
2 years ago

Talking in absolutes makes your comment ridiculous

Dakota Lee
Reply to  Acetwoone
2 years ago

Lmao only because console gamers accepted yet another, even shittier game than 2042 and pc players will always have so many better options for fps titles. 2042 isn’t even a battlefield game. It can stay uninstalled forever

Martin Duchoň
Reply to  Acetwoone
2 years ago

If EA/DICE will stop developing 2042 and come back to BF5 to release anti-cheat and do expansion packs (Russian side etc.), it will be the great game. WW2 is really big ocean of ideas which you do not need to create as everything was done 80 years ago. If you compare huge empty plain maps in 2042, I do not want to play them. Only one map which was well designed is Manifest. Only one thing which 2042 has, it’s anti-cheat. Even Portal I do not like, not because of idea, idea is great, but because it’s running on 2042 engine which is bugged and strange.

Jim Bessey
2 years ago

With no new content coming anytime soon the game is dead..there is just so many things wrong with this AAA title there’s not enough time for me to type it all out.. this so removed from the BF of the past it does not resemble anything we grew to love.. it’s like mutant experiment gone wrong! It shocks me that heads did not roll after the release… Players like myself have gone back to bfv to play a decent competitive game that is almost bug free with amazing graphics and decent frame rates.. I am pretty much done with 2042.. the only decent thing is Hazzard zone.. but now it’s got a few bugs thanks to last updates.. EA fix the damn game! Before it’s to late..

Martin Duchoň
Reply to  Jim Bessey
2 years ago

Yep, Hazard Zone is nice, but really the jump bug or no-zoom bug after using vehicle must be fixed. Playing Hazard Zone is more fun relying on your squad only than on team of 64 players, which is killed by 3 enemy choppers and nobody of 64 players except me is able to take AA.

Jason
2 years ago

STEAM is one one to launch the game. This doesn’t account for players starting the game from EA’s launcher nor the millions who play on console.

Acetwoone
Reply to  Jason
2 years ago

and also the fact that the bulk of the PC population plays on old hardware. most people want to play 2042 but they probably don’t have a good enough graphics card so they have to settle for the next best thing which is…..BFV.

this article is just clickbait nonsense

Martin Duchoň
Reply to  Acetwoone
2 years ago

Why do you need better graphics card when huge population is playing on 60 Hz monitor? 😀

Acetwoone
Reply to  Jason
2 years ago

and also the fact that the bulk of the PC population plays on old hardware. most people want to play 2042 but they probably don’t hve a good enough graphics card so they have to settle for the next best thing which is…..BFV. this article is just clickbait nonense.

Robert
Reply to  Acetwoone
2 years ago

our hardware isn’t an issue, seeing as I play bf5 on an original xbox one and not only does it run fine, but it also looks far better than 2042 does even on monster pc rigs. Also, it’s not my job to go out and buy a monster rig just to play your game. That’s why people are supposed to optimize it so that more people can run it, which will boost sales. If it wasn’t ready to be released on a certain system, they should have either made it separate from the release on pc and next gen, or not released it for systems that had no business running it. But no. They had to have their cross play with everyone playing with everyone, so the engine that’s supposed to make the game look good and perform well on higher end rigs now has to be scaled down for people playing on hardware that it wasn’t meant for in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, if you want dumb fun, it’s good, but for a lot of people, including myself, the game falls flat because it’s riddled with bugs and other issues. The controls feel clunky, everything just looks and feels off. I remember when battlefield was a cinematic experience. I remember running into the chaos a frontlines gunning people down and holding positions against wave after wave of enemy players. I remember the the airship behemoth crashing down right in front of me while I was spraying into people at the hip like Rambo with the automatico in bf1. Planes would be bombing and being shot down all around my team while we were being rushed by infantry. I remember that time I spawned into a tiger with 3 lives left, and firing shells across the map, killing the squad that was holding the last objective in breakthrough, and we capped it with 1 ticket remaining. The difference isn’t just the competitive aspect, it’s those classic battlefield moments you experience every game that just aren’t there. This has been my TED talk.

Darren Curtis
Reply to  Jason
2 years ago

I play all the battlefield series since their release date on origin just fine without problems.

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