A reader is dismayed to find out that work on a new Battlefield has already begun and thinks that EA and DICE are headed for another disaster.
I know I’m wrong to be surprised, but seeing the news that , I couldn’t help but shake my head and sigh. As someone said in the comments, it’s like they’ve learned nothing from the failure that is Battlefield 2042. get a lot of stick from people, and some of it is justified, but to give them credit where it’s due, when Assassin’s Creed started to go downhill they stopped the yearly release schedule and took the time to give it a proper reboot. Battlefield deserves at least the same approach.
According to the report – and this Tom Henderson guy seems to get everything right about Battlefield – EA are not sure the next game will be out in time for 2023, implying that’s what they’re aiming for. Wow, if they’re lucky DICE will get two years to work on a brand new game that digs them out of the hole they’ve got themselves in and is a good game with lots of content. That’s not going to happen.
It takes three years to make a Call Of Duty game and those are basically all the same. The new Battlefield needs to be something completely different, something that, from what I understand about game development is going to take at least four to five years. If EA was sensible, and cared about the long term health of the franchise, they’d give DICE infinite time to get things done but I think we can all guess that’s not going to happen.
One of the many problems is that DICE are just not the developer they used to be. Most of the original leaders have gone and the ones in charge now just seem to be yes-men that do and say whatever EA want just to keep their job. There doesn’t seem to be any passion left at the developer, or much competence, and I agree with the a few months ago that said EA should sell DICE and let them go it alone.
EA could even still use them to make Battlefield or other games but DICE need to be able to experiment and take the time they want, not just rush whatever they have out of the door to make a deadline.
That’s literally what Battlefield 2042 was: Hazard Zone and Portal were quickly rushed out, after plans for a battle royale fell through, and even the main mode is sorely missing options. The only thing they seem to have put any effort into is the specialists, which anyone at DICE should’ve instantly known would be hated. But because that makes it a hero shooter, and EA thinks they can sell microtransactions for them, that becomes the priority.
Now they’ve got to spend all their time undoing that damage instead of moving Battlefield 2042 forward with its post-launch content. All this effort and all they’ll end up doing is going back to the kind of proper class system they should have had from the start.
I’ve just got no confidence in any of this. EA and DICE are not the companies to make a job of this and when the next game is a flop too they’re going to finally kill off the whole franchise. It’s a shame because I love Battlefield but it’s been terrible for years and unless someone else comes along and gives it the reboot it needs I think the new game is going to be DOA.
By reader Hennish
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