The descent into hell continues for Battlefield 2042, which could soon use free-to-play to save the furniture.
The debacle continues for Battlefield 2042. In a tweet spotted by EarlyGame, Tom Henderson, an insider with a very solid reputation, the results of the latest addition to the franchise would be so catastrophic that Electronic Arts would consider making it free to play…
Let’s set the scene for those who haven’t followed the release of the latest installment in the series. After an exceptionally dense promotional campaign that raised the hype to incredible heights, the community of FPS enthusiasts expected to be able to enjoy a new Battlefield solid, nervous and entertaining, able to lay the foundations for the future of the franchise.
But at the exit, it is the disaster: the game is not pretty, not entertaining, full of incomprehensible design choices and bugs, in addition to suffering from major optimization problems. Inevitably, the entire community hastened to set fire to Electronic Arts. Result: the majority of players ended up drop the title in less time than it takes for the horrible hovercraft to obliterate an entire platoon.
Against the wall, EA has embarked on a desperate headlong rush in an attempt to retain its playerbase. But despite the repeated promises and the facade of enthusiasm, the days go by and resemble each other; in the end, no one managed to rectify the situation – which ultimately seems quite natural for a title with such calamitous gunplay.
Free-to-play, the only road to redemption?
We therefore expected that EA would end up abandoning the idea of making it the blockbuster it should have been, and contenting itself with improving the game little by little. But the situation seems even more desperate than we had imagined.
According to Henderson’s sources, EA would be “very disappointed” with the results of the game and “all options” would be on the table to restore the ceiling of the franchise, including the fact of offering certain free modes as found. already with its competitor Warzone.
At this time, Electronic Arts has no not officially communicated on this issue. What seems clear, however, is that the game simply has no future as things stand. Switching to a free-to-play format, at least partially, therefore looks like the only possible outcome.
In the weeks to come, it will therefore be interesting to closely follow a possible announcement from EA on the subject. It remains to be seen whether this business model will be enough to convince players to return after such a cataclysmic release, which seems anything but certain…
