To say the launch of Battlefield 2042 didn’t quite go to plan would be an understatement. The announcement of Battlefield 2042 was one of the biggest gaming moments of the year, the level of hype was through the roof, but a severe lack of polish and content at launch scuttled the excitement. Since launch, updates and communication from EA and DICE has been anemic, and playercount has drooped below previous entries in the series on Steam.
It’s clear EA isn’t happy about how things have gone – How could they be? – but according to reliable Battlefield insider Tom Henderson, they’re considering some drastic measures to right the ship. That includes potentially going free-to-play.
EA is reportedly very disappointed with how Battlefield 2042 has performed and is “looking at all the options” when it comes to the title, this is including looking at Free to Play in some capacity.
I’ll have more on this tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/WWuDpstyqS
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) January 20, 2022
Of course, take this with a grain of salt for now, but Henderson usually has the goods when it comes to Battlefield. It will be interesting to see what EA does. Frankly, making a game people don’t really like F2P probably isn’t going to be a real solution. For now, it’s probably best to focus on fixing things, even if playercount continues to drop (crossplay makes that less of an issue than in the past). Once things are up to snuff, maybe consider a F2P option then.
If it happens, a F2P Battlefield 2042 won’t be the only thing EA has done to shake up the franchise. EA recently put Respawn founder Vince Zampella and Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto in creative charge of the franchise, seemingly demoting DICE somewhat in the process. According to rumors, the plan is to make a Battlefield hero shooter, with an Apex-Legends-esque cast of characters set in an “expanded universe.”
Battlefield 2042 is available now on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5. What do you think? Would you be more likely to try Battlefield 2042 if it went free-to-play or would it just be a band-aid on the wound?
