It has been an incredibly rough road for one of EA's premier franchises. Battlefield 2042 launched in November 2021 to generally mixed reviews from critics, though it was largely panned by players due to the lack of features many expected to see on day one, large amounts of bugs and glitches, as well as overall gameplay changes that just didn't sit right with the community of players. The game quickly began to sink on places like Steam where older titles in the franchise quickly overtook Battlefield 2042 in terms of active player count.
To its credit, DICE hasn't abandoned Battlefield 2042, taking ownership and doubling down on improving the overall experience. In response to the criticisms and negativity, DICE altered its plans, even going as far as delaying Battlefield 2042's first season, so it could work on fixing things through numerous updates. While the game has seen substantial changes in the months since launch, DICE is not done improving things, even recently revealing a host of upcoming changes and additions alongside the first season.
In order to get Battlefield 2042 to a state that many fans were hoping at launch, DICE has had to focus its efforts on where the players are, namely the All Out Warfare modes, Conquest and Breakthrough. In a new post on the EA forums, DICE gave fans a detailed look at what the studio is working on, including reworking maps like Kaleidoscope, changes to existing and upcoming game modes, as well as improvements to core gameplay including an update to specialists. However, this work has had an impact on other parts of the game like Hazard Zone.
Further down in the update, DICE confirmed that it is winding down future development on Hazard Zone, admitting that the mode hasn't really found a home. In order to best direct the team's energy and time players are engaging in the most, Hazard Zone won't be seeing any new experiences, maps, or content going forward. That said, the mode isn't being turned off and DICE will address critical errors or glitches as they appear, but the mode won't be changing at all from how it is right now.
It's clear based on the blog post that DICE has big plans for Battlefield 2042 on top of the improvements the studio has already made to the game. Just recently, Update 4.0 arrived for Battlefield 2042, finally introducing things like voice chat and other quality of life improvements. The 128 player Breakthrough mode has also been scaled back to just 64 players, something the community has been in favor of as it reduces the amount of chaos happening on screen and potential confusion from players.
Battlefield 2042 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: EA