While Battlefield 2042 was releasd just a few months ago in November 2021, to say it’s struggling is a bit of an understatement. For starters, EA has never said anything about its sales figures yet, which means it didn’t sell well to trump anything about, and its player base (at least on Steam) is getting beaten by older games in the franchise on a daily basis. Not only that, but we’ve enumerated the issues the game has in our review (which doesn’t put the game in a pretty light).
Having said all that, the game is not beyond redemption. If games like Star Wars Battlefront 2 (another game developed by DICE) go from being loathed to increasing its player base year(s) after launch, then surely an established franchise like Battlefield can too, right? In the list below, we count down the 10 things DICE — and EA — must do in order to turn things around for Battlefield 2042! We aren’t saying that Battlefield 2042 will be a top-seller or just
10 Things DICE and EA Need to Do in Order to Turn Things Around for Battlefield 2042:
10) Better Communication to the Players
While we’ve already talked about DICE’s communication problem with the Battlefield player base, it’s worth repeating once again: DICE and EA Need to communicate with the player base (or what’s left). Don’t schedule canned tweets and call it a day, no. Listen to the community, reply to tweets, community posts from Reddit (even if most are toxic) — basically, anything to let the player base know that someone within the studio and publisher is listening. That shouln’t be that hard, right?
9) Implement Proper Old Features Back (Scoreboard, VOIP)
While DICE has already announced that a revamped/updated scoreboard is coming this February, that’s not nearly enough. Why are old features like a proper VOIP, chat and the like missing? If the reason is toxicity, then maybe just clamp up on that more? Trying to make sure no one gets hurt by hidiing the scoreboard from everyone isn’t helping, it’s just laughable.
8) Fix Performance Issues
While DICE continues to release fixes included in each patch for BF2042, one can argue that the game shouldn’t be suffering from these issues in the first place given DICE had years to develop the multiplayer mode, and wasn’t even encumbered by needing to make a single-player campaign. We need proper performance fixes, better server stability, less crashes and better stabilization on both consoles and PC.
When we say “performance issues,” we also mean better hit registeration, less buggy melee attacks, and more.
7) Bring Back Rent a Servers
Sure, there are community servers/games available but it still requires one person be in that particular server for it to not close down. ALso, it’s not as flexible as proper rented servers, either. Why not let gamers rent their own servers like in previous Battlefield games? The actual gamers are paying for it, so it’s not like it’s costing EA anything more to have them available, right?
The main thing where this matters is in Battlefield Portal. You have the perfect mode where players can go to town in terms of game mode imagination, but yet, they are hampered by not being able to have their game modes/creations available 24/7.
6) Menu and Spawn Screen Needs to Be Changed
Battlefield 2042’s menu and spawn screens simply do not work. It takes too many clicks, too many buttons to do something as simple as changing something in your loadout. Mind, this is an issue in past Battlefield games as well, but it’s more pronounced in BF2042 given the other issues the game has. There’s just too many button presses for the options, loadout screen and the like, and that needs to change.
As for the spawn screen, it just needs to be fixed given it’s so hard to know exactly where you’re dropping in, and it’s just annoying to have to deal with.
5) Either Make Hazard Zone Free, or Just Kill It
Let’s face it: Hazard Zone is a bust. Either EA makes the mode free-to-play so players who want to test Battlefield 2042 can, or just kill it and have DICE pour all resources into All-Out War. I mean, show of hands, who here would miss Hazard Zone if it goes away? Yeah, I thought as much.
4) Proper Roadmap and Battle Pass Explanation
We’re what? 70+ days since the game launched, and yet there is still no mention of any friggin’ roadmap, which is inexcusable for a AAA shooter from one of the biggest video game publishers in the world. How can games that have yet to be released, and with a smaller corporate backing, have an actual post-release plan and roadmap and yet BF2042 does not? Yeah, we’re baffled by this one too.
Given how badly DICE and EA have bungled up the communication so far, we’re not expecting much from the eventual Battle Pass announcement. What we know is, we’ll be getting a new Specialist, new guns, a new map and new cosmetics. But EA needs to do more than that since, well. they might not have anyone left to sell the game’s first Battle Pass to!
The first Battle Pass shouldn’t just be a mindless cash-grab, but be used to somehow rope players back in! How? Announce tons of new content, a proprper roadmap, a proper timetable for fixes, and more. If this one fails, then EA might as well kiss the remaining players good bye.
3) Release More Content ASAP
Going in hand-in-hand with the roadmap and Battle Pass, EA doesn’t have the luxury of taking their time in releasing new content for the game. Given how small the weapon pool is, and how there are so few maps in All-Out War, then it’s time that DICE and EA start doling out content even without any season involved.
Perhaps give one content drop (or two) every month? Hey, drastic cases calls for drastic measures, right? This is one way of (maybe) earning back player trust.
2) Make a Specialist-Free Mode
For Specialists, we’ll be realistic here and admit that it is highly unlikely that DICE can somehow take out Specialists without completely breaking the game given the core game mode is huilt around each one’s ability and whatnot. Still, one can wonder how the player base would react if a new core game mode was released that would only allow the traditional classes.
Sure, this Specialist-free mode is doable in Battlefield Portal, but it’s a different beast when DICE themselvs make a mode like this and have it on permanently, right?
1) Relaunch Just Like DICE Did With Battlefield V and Battlefront 2
Perhaps the silver lining to all the stormy weather the game has gotten so far is, both Battlefield V and Star Wars Battlefront 2 had rocky launches, but after numerous patches, content drops and the like, things started turning around. However, it wasn’t just that. In case you didn’t know, EA relaunched the games with an alternate “cover” which signified the major changes to each title. Remember that BFV title screen above? What about the one below for Battlefront 2?
This is the good thing about games being live services these days; countless titles have managed to turn things around but it involves a lot of hard work from the devs, constant communication, and more.
That’s about it. Do you agree with this list? What can DICE and EA do to turn things around for Battlefield 2042? Sound off and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
