Battlefield 2042 Had “Many Iterations”, “Never Stood Much Chance” of Being Great – Ex-DICE Developer

DICE’s Battlefield 2042 is in a better place nowadays with reworks to map design, Squad Management, the return of Classes, and much more. However, it was an utter train wreck at launch, with over 26,000 negative user reviews on Steam in the first few days (only 26 percent were positive).

Along with missing features and questionable design decisions, it also had numerous bugs, server issues and weapon balance problems. In a new tweet, Joakim Bodin, former senior software engineer at DICE who now works at Epic Games as a senior backend engineer, reveals that the game “never stood much chance” of being great at launch.

“This game had many iterations, and the deadline never changed much, so it never stood much chance of being great at launch.” Nevertheless, Bodin is proud to “have pushed hard to have this game have full cross-play, progression and (mostly) commerce. Its online systems will serve future titles well.”

Reports of Battlefield 2042’s problems began shortly before launch, with Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson discussing how it started as a battle royale title. Management was allegedly “not committed enough to the project, with creative being simply told to do X, Y, and Z.” The negatively-received Specialists were also reportedly added due to management enjoying Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019).

Electronic Arts has since revamped its approach to Battlefield development, opting for multiple studios and having Respawn CEO Vince Zampella as the new head of the franchise. While it’s yet to announce any new games, Ridgeline Games (helmed by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto) is working on a new narrative campaign while Ripple Effect Studios has a new Battlefield experience in the works. In the meantime, Battlefield Mobile has also been cancelled. Stay tuned for more updates in the meantime.

This game had many iterations, and the deadline never changed much, so never stood much chance being great at launch.

I'm proud though to have pushed hard to have this game have full cross play, progression and (mostly) commerce. It’s online systems will serve future titles well https://t.co/l6tbqFhzgz pic.twitter.com/kCUx77aGqF

— Joakim Bodin (@jbripley) May 26, 2023