Battlefield 2042 was not the massive hit EA and DICE were probably hoping it would be. Complaints about the game have been numerous, including a buggy launch and abandoning systems that many fans consider integral to the franchise. Some fans also criticized the game for its cringe-inducing voice lines and inability to keep a consistent tone.
EA hasn’t overlooked Battlefield 2042’s less than positive reception, which came up during the publisher’s recent conference call. The company acknowledged its poor performance and community backlash but affirmed its commitment to rolling out major updates.
There’s currently no available call transcript, though Analyst Daniel Ahmad tweeted out some essential points. As stated, EA acknowledged that Battlefield 2042 failed to meet the company’s expectations. In addition, the publisher noted Battlefield 2042’s “unexpected performance issues” and touched on the difficulties presented by working from home.
EA also acknowledged that “Some design choices did not resonate with [the Battlefield] community.” But, if anything, that phrasing arguably understates the volume of fan complaints. The game has “Mostly Negative” reviews on Steam, with players complaining about many unpopular changes. These include swapping Battlefield’s Class system for 2042’s Specialists. Other complaints include but are not limited to fewer standard game modes, fewer maps, the lack of persistent lobbies, fewer destructible buildings, fewer guns and gadgets, and no water vehicles. And that is just a small sample of the numerous complaints that some fans have had about the game.
Fortunately, EA isn’t quite ready to abandon Battlefield 2042 just yet, with DICE planning significant updates. Hopefully, the studio does a good job at responding to players’ criticisms of Battlefield 2042. However, it sounds like the developers will have a lot of work ahead of them.
Battlefield 2042 wasn’t the sole topic of EA’s conference call. In contrast to DICE’s game, Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends continues to see massive success. Apex Legends gained 28 million new players in 2021, and EA expects the game to return $1 billion in net profits for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. The publisher’s also preparing for the upcoming soft launch of Apex Legends Mobile.
The conference call additionally discussed EA’s general plans and expectations for the next few years. It is, of course, planning multiple new EA Sports titles. Fans should also expect to hear more about Skate, Dead Space, Need for Speed, The Sims, Respawn’s Star Wars game, and new BioWare games. This gives fans plenty of reason to be either excited or anxious about the latest installments of their favorite franchises.
Battlefield 2042 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.