Battlefield 2042 has experienced heavy criticism since it first launched in November. Fans have taken to social media to air their frustrations about Battlefield 2042, calling out DICE, EA, and specific employees for the state of the game.
After the holiday break, EA global comms director Andy McNamara sent out a series of since-deleted tweets explaining that, while he understood fan concerns, employees need time to rest. He also said that fans' expectations for Battlefiled 2042 are "brutal," and that features take time to "scope, design, and execute."
These tweets, as well as the state of the game, have resulted in moderators of the Battlefield 2042 Reddit page to threaten users with lockdown of the entire subreddit. This comes after massive amounts of toxicity flooded the subreddit in the wake of McNamara's tweets, but also addressed overall toxicity in regards to user posts. In short, the mods offered three options to users: if toxicity is reduced, nothing happens; if it continues, threads will be closed early to reduce toxic comments; and if it gets worse, the subreddit will be locked down completely.
Though the backlash over the McNamara tweets flooded the subreddit, the mod team's message makes it clear that this latest event was the tip of the iceberg, and that toxicity has been growing throughout the subreddit since Battlefield 2042's launch. Looking at comments to the message itself, one does not have to look very far to see what toxicity the mods are talking about. Nearly every comment is insulting the mods, DICE, EA, or the game. Some comments have links to other subreddits, telling users to leave the subreddit so they will be free to complain.
Targeted harrassment and toxicity are never appropriate, and so the argument could be made that the mods are making a good decision in warning users to improve their behavior. In the case of Battlefield 2042, which experienced a rough launch, a major lack of features fans expect from the series, and many bugs and glitches that hindered gameplay, outcry from players is a given, but toxicity is never helpful.
Regardless of whether Battlefield 2042 is a good game or not, the conversation and overall opinion surrounding it are in terrible shape. It will be interesting to see if player opinion on the game is improved in time, as has been seen with similar live service games that had a rough start.
Battlefield 2042 is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.