The military shooter Battlefield 2042 was highly anticipated in November 2021. It was supposed to compete against the dominant “Call of Duty” and bring EA back to the forefront. But critics and fans panned the shooter, which is considered a catastrophic flop. The new head of DICE, Rebecka Coutaz, is now commenting on the disappointing release and plans to turn the shooter around.
This was the situation before the release:
- Battlefield 1 was a success for DICE in 2016, set during World War I. The title received an outstanding 88% on Metacritc (PC).
- Battlefield V was released in 2018 and aimed to give players more options for character customization. Although the shooter came in respectably at 81% among testers, controversies led to a negative reaction from regular players: They found it unrealistic how Battlefield V portrayed female fighters. EA responded defiantly, stating: “Live with it or don’t play it.“
- After Battlefield V, there was a pause in the series to regroup. In the meantime, the eternal rival Call of Duty with “Warzone” became the dominant military shooter, increasing by 300-1000% from 2019 to 2020, exactly during the pause of Battlefield.
In 2 minutes, we will explain the most important things about Battlefield 2042:
Battlefield 2042 flops – disappointment turns into mockery and malice
This is how Battlefield 2042 was received: Battlefield 2042 was released in November 2021: It was set in the near future and aimed to revitalize the Battlefield series with some radical innovations and regain lost trust. In many ways, EA seemed to want to catch up to Call of Duty: Warzone:
- However, the shooter dropped to a poor 68% with testers and triggered a catastrophic reaction from fans.
- Around Christmas 2021, Battlefield V even had more players on Steam than the “new” Battlefield 2042.
- Especially the innovations were rejected as “This is no longer Battlefield” – at the same time, players missed features that had been part of the franchise for years and were seen as “the absolute minimum we expect from Battlefield.”
The criticism of Battlefield 2042 turned into bitter mockery and ridicule – especially when a developer complained about the disappointed fans and their supposedly too high expectations.
We have extensively discussed the difficult situation of Battlefield in a MeinMMO podcast:
Who is the new boss? In December 2021, EA announced that they were putting a new leadership team in place to get Battlefield back on track. For example, they installed Vince Zampella as the boss: he made his mark with Call of Duty and is considered responsible for the surprisingly big success of Apex Legends, which has now replaced Battlefield as EA’s leading shooter.
In Stockholm, the Swede Rebecka Coutaz was appointed as General Manager at EA DICE. She previously led a Ubisoft studio in Annecy: There, in France, games like The Division and Rider’s Republic were worked on.
The team has invested years of their lives into Battlefield 2042
This is what the new studio head says now: In an interview with Eurogamer, Coutaz now comments on the launch:
Everyone was disappointed – our community, our players, and also our team: It is the team that has invested years of their lives into the game. And that this game did not meet the expectations of the players and the team was hard. We are moving forward now and have done a lot of things since then.
What has Coutaz done in her first months? The first thing they did was to take a step back and closely examine what works and what doesn’t. What did they have? What could they build on?
For this analysis, the team took about 2 months. Since then, they have changed structures, tools, and processes in development to prepare to ultimately turn Battlefield 2042 into a great game.
As a problem, they identified working from home: it is simply different and it took time to adjust. In addition, they lost 4 key developers in leading positions and had to fill these gaps:
First, I assembled a leadership team that will lead the studio with me, and then I would say I shifted Battlefield 2042 to a live operation because we were structured to finish a game for launch. This is just the beginning of the journey.
Head is convinced: “The quality is there”
Overall, the new head believes that they are just at the beginning of the process of making Battlefield 2042 a better game but sees herself and her team on the right track:
We have released a series of patches. Every patch was a win for us. And of course, Season One is also a win for us. The quality is there. And now we are moving forward until we are fully immersed in Battlefield 2042.
How can you disappoint your community on the 20th anniversary?
Coutaz explains that EA, the leadership team, and she herself fully support the game series. It is a very rewarding task and also a lot of fun. Her experience at Ubisoft, working with multiple studios on a title, helps her now to develop Battlefield into a better game:
We are doing everything we can, and I can tell you: It gives me goosebumps. The heart of the team is there. We were so disappointed. And we were so disappointed that our players were disappointed. You know, that was our 20th anniversary. How can you disappoint your community on the 20th anniversary? We are here and we want to make it a great gaming experience.
The transition from launch to live phase is a crucible for many studios
What it’s all about: Interesting is Coutaz’s statement that as one of the first measures, she wants to transform Battlefield from a “game that was made for launch” into a game that is developed “live.”
This is the step that MMO studios have to take once they have released a game: They move from the “launch” phase into the “live” phase. Suddenly, you have players complaining about bugs, wanting changes to the balance, or looking for more mechanics in the endgame. It is a completely different development whether you work behind closed doors or live on a game that is already being played by thousands of people.
From the past, we know that some studios like Bungie took years to make this transition and build a “live team.”
Some teams, like those at Carbine (“WildStar”), never managed this step.
We will see how this develops at DICE now.
The MeinMMO expert on Battlefield, Marko Jevtic, has already looked at Season 1 before its release:
Battlefield 2042: I’ve played the new Season 1 in advance – here’s what to expect soon
