Battlefield 2042 goes free-to-play [maybe]

Rumor is that EA is disappointed either in the sales or declining player base and want's to make the game free-to-play.

Link

Thoughts?

I am concerned. I mean not just because I hear the game is a mess, but the fact that this sort of happened with Anthem as well and we all know how that ended up. Dead.

I imagine Battlefield's general popularity will keep it from going completely away, but the fact is the series has been on the decline for quite some time in my opinion and I think this might be the final straw for a lot of people.

Which is a shame, because really the only alternative to Battlefield is COD and that game is lame. Unless you're on PC, then you have tons and tons and tons of options like ArmA and Squad and Rising Storm and Day of Defeat and Counter-Strike and so on.

We even got Clownfield 2042, a spoof of a game that's actually better (allegedly) than the game it is spoofing.

Another option is to make a good game that works on launch.

Does EA even do that any more?

I feel bad for people that bought this game, free to play in the future or not. I didn't even finish the 10-hour trial, it was that bad.

Not only are they guaranteed to go f2p, but i'd be ready to bet money that there's no content support for the game after their one year pass is done. We're not talking about a game that can be saved here. This game needs a full rework a la FF14, but not only will it be too expensive, take too long, devs are incapable of working with frostbite, but the image/first time impression of this game has been demolished, the game is nothing else but a meme that everyone trolls and laughs at. Zero chance of a proper rework of the game.

And when i read their old tweets and see those lies... that is what triggers me most. I can't think of a single game released in the last ten plus years that deserves more shit than BF2042.

Game Pass + EA access will help a bit I'm sure. But let's also look at how when Halo: Infinite came out right around it for free MP, even Infinite took away BF2042 players and I rather have a lesser game (Halo: Infinite) and not a broken game that is BF2042.

Everyone with common sense saw this disaster coming and it easily could have been prevented if EA suits would just understand that the only thing a BF has to do is be an actual good BF game. That’s it. That’s all it needs to be. DICE used to have actual talents but not anymore it seems.

All in all, making something free won’t make it a good game for itself. Even Battleborn did the same making a F2P after its players dropped dramatically and didn't make a damn difference.

Microsoft need to buy this company so can save it.

No, what MS needs to do is just buy back Bioware and EA can keep the rest for all I care. If anything that needs saving, it's Bioware.

(Make Bioware great again)

Why would anyone want to pay full price for BF 2042 when Halo Inf had just came out and is F2P already.

For real Halo ate BFs lunch, it's funny too because people were seriously hyping 2042 over Halo Inf a year ago from now.

Bioware should pull a Bungie and just buy themselves out, if they can.

Make Bioware great again [by making them independent]

Halo infinite destroyed it

So you are saying that hardwenzen wasted his 70 bucks?

I wouldn't put it that way, I'm just not saying he didn't.

A bad game won't magically become less bad just because it's free-to-play.

EA needs a reminder in priorities.

Blasphemy!!!

I'm not even interested. The game is bad, genuinly unfun.

For anyone that wants to know how three (!) studios can still shit out a turd, I suggest checking this documentary.

EA is a weird company. They seem so smart and sharkish and yet they have failed so many times the last decade. Like almost every game. But they still seem to make endless money. Not sure how this works exactly. I guess their core lineup with FIFA etc is so strong that they can afford it 🤷🏻‍♂️?

That is absolute bs for people that paid full price for a terrible game.

I wonder if EA will ever kill DICE they are a far cry from what they use to be.

Agreed

Unless the fix the games underlying problems that have kept the people who paid for it from playing it, doubtful making it free will change anything.

Still not going to ever play it.

Not sure how this is like Anthem at all when it comes to making it F2P because I would guess it’s more the Halo Infinite strategy.

But honestly, unless EA stops pushing out broken garbage this will just be a performative maneuver for a big MT push with no substance.

Glad I only upped for a month of Origin... Okay at the beginning with friends, but truly dogshit overall.

Paid full price for it and played enough of it now to justify on how a terrible game it is. $80 I thought it was good for the price at the beginning,how I was wrong.

Not even worth keeping around for Frostbite, one might even argue.

It was a good-looking engine for some time but apparently it's just terrible to work with.

Games like this were designed to be profitable via microtransactions. This is why they made the switch to "specialists" instead of just generic classes and faceless soldiers, to give one example.

If their player base is small now when the game is brand new, the game will be all but dead in a matter of months; making the game free might get more people playing, increase their player base, and therefore increase microtransaction sales.

A damn shame they just couldn't make a good game, be happy with it selling well, then make a few DLC packs every 6-12 months.

Halo Infinite had absolutely NOTHING to do with 2042 failure. EA was solely the reason why 2042 is in the state it’s in now.

Oh wow I forgot about Battleborn. Yeah that game came and went really fast.

As a massive Battlefield fan who has played every game since BF1942 (with the exception of BF1943 and BF Hardline), BF2042 is honestly an awful awful game that I do not believe can be saved by simply going F2P, or really at all. The game has far too many issues. I could live with the bugs if the game was good (for example BFV was quite buggy at launch, but the underlying game was quite good so I still quite enjoyed it, and as the bugs got fixed and more maps were brought in, it became better and better, frankly I dont understand all the hate BFV got).

But nope at its core 2042 is awful, gameplay aint fun, maps are awful (literally next to no cover for one), specialists unnecessary, and etc. I do like the T system and Portal (in theory), but frankly as nice as T system is it does not make up for all the other stuff. As for Portal, was excited initially by it but given how poorly BF2042 performs (even on an 3080 Ti), yet how ugly the game looks, I would rather play BF3, BC2 and BF1942 in its original form rather than through portal. Portal is a cool idea but when baseline game/engine/etc are meh, its really does not make up for it.

On a separate note, would have been cooler if they made BF2142 sequel instead (say BF243), the Titan mode was amazing and a ton of fun.

They made a game that sucks ass, and now wants to make it free to try to fool people into playing it.

Awesome plan. Make the game better would've been preferable, but whatever floats EA's boat.

Yeah, I've been saying this since BF3.

Battlefield V killed my enjoyment of the series. I won't play this if it goes f2p.

It's already below 8,000 players at peak hours on Steam, versus it's all-time peak of 100,000. The problem clearly wasn't the price, it's that no one wants to play a shit game. Making it F2P isn't going to salvage a shit game.

Maxed out oofers.