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[IbizaPocholo]

EA Says Battlefield 2042 'Did Not Meet Expectations' - IGN

While players have certainly been aware of the struggles Battlefield 2042 has undergone since its launch last November, publisher EA owned up to the game's trouble in front of investors today, saying it "did not meet expectations."

www.ign.com

While players have certainly been aware of the struggles Battlefield 2042 has undergone since its launch last November, publisher EA owned up to the game's trouble in front of investors today, saying it "did not meet expectations."

In the company's Q3 earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson said that Battlefield 2042 has always been an "ambitious game" for EA, noting that much of the game was made during COVID-19 lockdowns that ultimately impacted the final product.

"Developing this game with our teams working from home for nearly two years ultimately proved to be challenging," he said. "Through our process of testing and preparation we believed the experience was ready to be put in our players' hands. We launched with strong stability; however, as more players experienced the full game, it became clear there were unanticipated performance issues that we would need to address. Some of the design choices we made with the game also did not resonate with everyone in our community."

Wilson then reiterated EA's commitment to continuing to update Battlefield 2042 in the coming months, referencing the announcement early today to push back the first season of live service content to early summer while it works on improving the core experience.

EA’s boss thinks Battlefield 2042 ‘will do really well over the course of time’ | VGC

Andrew Wilson backs DICE to turn things around following the game’s disappointing launch…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Wilson later claimed during the Q&A section of Tuesday’s earnings call: “I believe that we’re going to see this game do really well over the course of time.”

He went on to back DICE to overcome Battlefield 2042’s disappointing launch and re-engage its fanbase, something he said it had experience of doing.

“As much as I hate to admit it, DICE is a studio that has been able to do this a number of times now. They really go back in, rebuild at the core and re-engage the community. As long as we do that in conjunction with the community, that’s what that studio is so great at doing.”

Outgoing EA chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen said the company wouldn’t be disclosing Battlefield 2042 sales numbers at this time.

“Clearly we sold less units than we thought we would” but we believe these games have “long tails”, he said.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

Other people made games during covid.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Brutal expectations

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Water is wet

 

[Dr.Morris79]

I guess it's not EveryonesBattlefield after all.

 

[Chris_Rivera]

That’s a pretty clear “we fucked up” response. It’s also clear they thought they would get away with it.

 

[chromhound]

Your fault

 

[EDMIX]

Other people made games during covid.

This is true, lots still turned out like shit, but i suspect they were always going to turn out like shit lol

That’s a pretty clear “we fucked up” response. It’s also clear they thought they would get away with it.

Facts, its even more fucked up cause at 4.2 million sold in a week, it shows people wanted a good, solid BF title and we can only imagine how much more they could have sold if they just delayed, overhauled that design and focused more on the feedback.

They can't even argue that no one wanted it or it was doomed from the start etc.

PR did their jobs collecting feedback, marketing team did their jobs, as far as i'm concerned the team overall did their job, its EA as a publisher that didn't delay, didn't factor that feedback despite clearly getting it from the beta and allowed a designer to alter evergreen concepts.

I'm ok with them giving their teams more freedom, not to the extent of completely getting rid of staple, standard features that should be there day 1.

"Developing this game with our teams working from home for nearly two years ultimately proved to be challenging,"

yea, maybe that game should have not been developed for "nearly two years" , I'd argue the pandemic is a solid, justifiable reason to delay the game based on the feedback. I can never say the pandemic didn't factor (not the first time a Pandemic was blamed by EA btw) jk jk, simply that if they were aware that such a thing was hurting the game, shit even if they were not aware, they would be with the feedback from the beta, which means the best excuse would be to just delay because of that issue. Its not like it was unknown until the last minute and this had no beta or something, people played the game to the tune of 7.7 million

Battlefield 2042 Beta Reached 7.7 Million People

For comparison, the Battlefield 1 beta had 13 million players.

www.gamespot.com

So that marketing team did their jobs, the feedback was collected and conveyed properly, but if no action is taken, none of that is relevant as even the team wanting to put that shit in the game can't if a release date is still ironclad.

So its clear this title could have moved record units with better leadership, better publisher, regardless of the pandemic . The Last Of Us 2 was delayed during the pandemic and become the fastest selling Sony title in history, Ghost Of Tsushima broke records too as a new IP. The pandemic must be factored, but it can't be the root cause.

 

[Halo is Back]

no shit.gif

 

[DeaDPo0L84]

A one year delay would have done this game wonders, this is the CP2077 of 2021. What did you gain by forcing this out for the holidays outside of a mountain of irreversible damage caused to the fans of the franchise when a delay would have simply pissed them off temporarily? I'll enjoy all the 1st qtr offerings and see what they serve up around Summer time.

 

[Warnen]

If it makes you feel better EA I always thought it was going to be shit so it met mine.

 

[EDMIX]

no shit.gif

i gots you lol

"2042 has always been an "ambitious game" for EA"

Knows this and still doesn't delay further.

"during COVID-19 lockdowns that ultimately impacted the final product"

They knew this based on the beta, which in turn would support a delay.

"Some of the design choices we made with the game also did not resonate with everyone in our community."

Like above, that easily would be known from the beta or even the previews as they can get feedback about not wanting the whole hero thing and just make it optional.

People questioned the gun count and that easily could be addressed by just putting all the guns on Portal, IN THE WHOLE GAME, it takes place in 2042 not 1842 so I don't really get how some of the easily fixes and obvious signs of something wrong, can get ignored and they can play this whole "we didn't know bruh" Thats like me dropping a whole ass shopping cart on a customer and just telling the boss that I don't know such things would hurt people. So I don't know how any of this goes with earnings calls or investor stuff, but I believe this would need to be looked at by them as how can they state stuff like this when their own community feedback factually states those issues based on the beta?

Then act shocked it doesn't move the most units.

 

[kingfey]

"We are making a multiplayer game, which doesn't have story mode, or BR mode. Fuck you, and give me 70$"
Sincerely EA boss.

 

[KyoZz]

In other news today: water is reportedly wet

 

[ZehDon]

#NotEveryonesBattlefield

It was painfully obvious the moment players got their hands on the preview this game was just bad. That they launched in this state is laughable. Drop support and move on - they won’t salvage this.

 

[Vagswarm]

This seems to be a trend that exploded with Cyberpunk's incredible success despite not living up to player's expectations. Feels like a lot of companies are trying to do the same thing: push games out despite glaring issues and still make a ton of money.

 

[digitaltrance]

I play it, but it's really bad the more I think about it. Handful of maps, no depth to the game at all.

 

[Airbus Jr]

I can dig up an early thread of BF242 where people predict this game going to be a hit without having SP mode but too lazy for that right now

 

[Little Chicken]

It's just a bad game and it's such a shame. I won't be touching BF for a while (unless they wake up and remaster BFBC2).

 

[Halo is Back]

i gots you lol

"2042 has always been an "ambitious game" for EA"

Knows this and still doesn't delay further.

"during COVID-19 lockdowns that ultimately impacted the final product"

They knew this based on the beta, which in turn would support a delay.

"Some of the design choices we made with the game also did not resonate with everyone in our community."

Like above, that easily would be known from the beta or even the previews as they can get feedback about not wanting the whole hero thing and just make it optional.

People questioned the gun count and that easily could be addressed by just putting all the guns on Portal, IN THE WHOLE GAME, it takes place in 2042 not 1842 so I don't really get how some of the easily fixes and obvious signs of something wrong, can get ignored and they can play this whole "we didn't know bruh" Thats like me dropping a whole ass shopping cart on a customer and just telling the boss that I don't know such things would hurt people. So I don't know how any of this goes with earnings calls or investor stuff, but I believe this would need to be looked at by them as how can they state stuff like this when their own community feedback factually states those issues based on the beta?

Then act shocked it doesn't move the most units.

This is why it pisses me off when DICE says "Don't worry guys, we are listening to your feedback, we promise!" No, it's selective listening. Just look what they did with BFV with the TTK debacle. Twice, they messed with the entire gun balance of the game when people were telling them that was the best feature in the game ( I agreed too). The first time got them so much backlash they subverted it before the holidays ended, then they promised not to do it again. Now, what do they do a year later? The exact same damn thing.


As for the delay thing, EA is greedy AF and these game companies just can't help themselves on passing up that sweet, sweet, holiday Christmas money. They should have delayed it another full year and had another beta for player feedback.

 

[EDMIX]

I can dig up an early thread of BF242 where people predict this game going to be a hit without having SP mode but too lazy for that right now

Yes and no.

This game becoming the second fastest selling BF in history and the fastest selling BF at all last gen shows not as much really care about that SP mode, I'd say the sales difference has more to do with the bad quality, shit beta, lack of post launch content etc. I don't know if I'd say its because no SP, this game shouldn't be THIS close to the fastest selling lol

So wasn't what EA was expecting and easily could have become the fastest selling BF with more time and more maps, but simply too close to that number 1 spot to really say SP was the real difference.

If anything that 4.2 million might prove that the series can do just fine being MP only again. Its the bugs, glitches, lack of MP maps, lack of common sense fixes etc that really fucked this one up. I'm not missing SP at all, I'll gladly take Portal for that and see that money spent on those elements.

Halo is Back "This is why it pisses me off when DICE says "Don't worry guys, we are listening to your feedback, we promise!" No, it's selective listening" I'd say based on what I'm reading about the future updates, they are listening to feedback and it sounds more like EA gave a date of Nov 19th and regardless of how much feedback DICE got, EA was not willing to delay to put those in.

That final call is on EA as they own DICE and control that release date. I'd say if anything that feedback, marketing and PR was the best thing regarding 2042 and it was more so EA's unwillingness to even listen to that team to just delay it to add those fixes, changes etc. BFV TTK will always trigger me lol Ended up being a great game after many updates, but I felt the gunplay was fine when it came out and they should have never messed with it. "Now, what do they do a year later? The exact same damn thing." lol I'm not shocked, gamers simply have short term memory on such things if all EA needs to do is show a cool ass trailer and be like "annnnnnnnd we got some of dem Bad Company 2 maps" lol

"As for the delay thing, EA is greedy AF and these game companies just can't help themselves on passing up that sweet, sweet, holiday Christmas money. They should have delayed it another full year and had another beta for player feedback."

^^1000% this. We'll see how it is ending of this year and see what that "could have been" launch is really like under Zampella.


Vagswarm "This seems to be a trend that exploded with Cyberpunk's incredible success despite" likely, we got games like this in the past, but it seems like last year, lots went to hype up many AAA games that were just unfinished. That 13 million sales didn't help this situation lol EA is like "oh so....so THATS how much is allowed before another lawsuit" lol

 

[newtypepilot]

lol blaming covid

let's be real. It's obvious that the suits at EA told Dice to make the game "like fortnite, because that's what kids play, right? Fortnite prints money and we need one!!". Then during development they realized it's not gonna work or that they'll know reception will be bad because it's nothing like a BF game, so they decided to drop the battle royale elements and make it BF again, thus forcing dev teeam to make last minute changes and reuse whatever they can.

So we end up with this unfinished, unpolished, flawed broken product that was rushed out the door because the preorder numbers says "just release the game! it doesn't matter if it's finished or not!"

 

[SatansReverence]

A N T H E M
N
T
H
E
M

 

[kyliethicc]

 

[Fare thee well]

Omegalul. Dw Android Wilson will save them.

 

[JerryinSoCal]

This is true, lots still turned out like shit, but i suspect they were always going to turn out like shit lol



Facts, its even more fucked up cause at 4.2 million sold in a week, it shows people wanted a good, solid BF title and we can only imagine how much more they could have sold if they just delayed, overhauled that design and focused more on the feedback.

They can't even argue that no one wanted it or it was doomed from the start etc.

PR did their jobs collecting feedback, marketing team did their jobs, as far as i'm concerned the team overall did their job, its EA as a publisher that didn't delay, didn't factor that feedback despite clearly getting it from the beta and allowed a designer to alter evergreen concepts.

I'm ok with them giving their teams more freedom, not to the extent of completely getting rid of staple, standard features that should be there day 1.



yea, maybe that game should have not been developed for "nearly two years" , I'd argue the pandemic is a solid, justifiable reason to delay the game based on the feedback. I can never say the pandemic didn't factor (not the first time a Pandemic was blamed by EA btw) jk jk, simply that if they were aware that such a thing was hurting the game, shit even if they were not aware, they would be with the feedback from the beta, which means the best excuse would be to just delay because of that issue. Its not like it was unknown until the last minute and this had no beta or something, people played the game to the tune of 7.7 million

Battlefield 2042 Beta Reached 7.7 Million People

For comparison, the Battlefield 1 beta had 13 million players.

www.gamespot.com

So that marketing team did their jobs, the feedback was collected and conveyed properly, but if no action is taken, none of that is relevant as even the team wanting to put that shit in the game can't if a release date is still ironclad.

So its clear this title could have moved record units with better leadership, better publisher, regardless of the pandemic . The Last Of Us 2 was delayed during the pandemic and become the fastest selling Sony title in history, Ghost Of Tsushima broke records too as a new IP. The pandemic must be factored, but it can't be the root cause.

One of their execs said the game was ahead of schedule and that was less than a year before it launched.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

BF has been a mismanaged disaster over the last two releases. It's fucking amazing that they let Fortnite, COD, and Apex take the BR market despite already seemingly having all the tech needed to make an excellent BR. Then shitting out just the one low effort Firestorm while also managing to neglect their core game.

Turn this shit around Zampella.

One of their execs said the game was ahead of schedule and that was less than a year before it launched.

Yeah, that comment followed by the actual release... They raised the expectations for a franchise that always comes in hot. What were they thinking?

 

[Dr.D00p]

The CEO talking to 'investors'.

They are the only cause of the BF shit-show.

..an individual constantly chasing the dragon of ever rising profits, to feed the institutional investor parasites.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Covid keeps getting the blame while everyone keeps saying that working from home is spectacular for software development and productivity rose 200%.

 

[Riky]

It didn't meet my expectations when hovercrafts started climbing skyscrapers.

 

[BLAUcopter]

 

[Oddvintagechap]

Sony about to back out.. our response to COD needs alot of work.

 

[[Sigma]]

Make no mistake about Andrew, you shipped the game you wanted to ship. Covid didn't have anything to do with the game design decisions. That's your guys that wanted to be cod/apex/fortnite and all this other stuff. That's your guys making shitty physics. That's your guys that intentionally left out basic features one come to expect in a Battlefield game. You made a bet on something and crapped out and now your forced to walk back a lot of stuff, well at least stuff that you can at this point. I'll let you have the performance issues but that's it and even then, you could have just delayed the game.

 

[cormack12]

lol

 

[Lucifers Beard]

EA basically saying, we know that DICE release broken shit all the time but all they’re really good at is trying to fix stuff.

Fuck off with this shit. Expectations of customers are to get it right at launch so that we can enjoy the product. Nothing is perfect of course and improvements can be made, but you don’t release shit like 2042 as it is.

Delay your games and make them better. We were all saying this after the horrible beta.

 

[Y0ssarian]

 

[BLAUcopter]

This is more of a sign of the current state of the gaming industry than anything. But yes, it's..... just sad. RIP Battlefield.

 

[EDMIX]

One of their execs said the game was ahead of schedule and that was less than a year before it launched.

ok, but that EA "ahead of schedule" aka we saw the title screen and a gun shoots..........thus, this ready soon doe lol

Covid keeps getting the blame while everyone keeps saying that working from home is spectacular for software development and productivity rose 200%.

This.

Lots do well in this environment and I think what ever that was wrong at EA in person, is even worse thru work at home. If its bad and mismanaged and they are toxic in person, for all we know their work at home is like fucking armageddon or some shit lol To many games did well during this pandemic for 100% of this to really be blamed on it.

Sony about to back out.. our response to COD needs alot of work.

I disagree, I'd argue this is the fucking excuse they'd use to get that discount. For all we know those talks that are rumored is with EA and Sony is likely using this as leverage lol (thats the fuckboy thing to do anyway) lol I mean, heck look at the last COD having the lowest sales in 14 years. Never stopped MS, but I think shit like that hurts more then helps, as they can just argue for a lower price or argue that they'd manage the IPs better etc. So who knows.

lol

lol bruh, Can they even do that? We'll likely hear numbers when they announce that free to play thing or the DLC in the summer or something. They generally give those numbers summer or November, well the did for some past BF titles, but I believe this is because its lower then they wanted. They probably want that DLC to raise the sale before giving a bigger figure or something. Who knows.

ok so I looked it up, for a few titles, they indeed skip giving a figure and its funny to look back at it and read what Andrew is even saying.

EA boss admits that Battlefield 4's launch situation was "unacceptable"

Battlefield 4's shaky launch was well documented by the gaming press and gamers alike, and now, some eight months after…

www.vg247.com

Its a good read. After all that, they still rush out Hardline and tried to make this IP annual.

"Back in December, a law firm filed to investigate EA over claims that it misled shareholders and rushed Battlefield 4 out the gate to appease investors." lol that shit sounds familiar lol

"Wilson downplayed claims that the shooter was rushed, adding, "DICE had a lot of time this time" Seriously, might as well just replace the 4 and put in 2042 and it sounds like the same excuses lol Andrew not even going in his bag for these lol

"Wilson continued, "Think about what Battlefield 4 was: 64 player multiplayer, giant maps, 1080p," Watch him later say "Wilson continued, "Think about what Battlefield 2042 was: 128 player multiplayer, giant MASSIVE AS FUCK maps, 4K......There is a chance there are things you are going to miss through the development cycle" lol

Have a good one folks, Gaf was wild asf today lol

 

[Sosokrates]

What a time to be alive!




Sorry.


------

Also next time a I play a military shooter im going to dress in the most clownish pink flowery costume I can find just to trigger the ppl who are bothered by it.

 

[BlackM1st]

Some of the design choices we made with the game also did not resonate with everyone in our community."

Bastards. They killed classes for nothing...

 

[DrJamesOxford]

What a time to be alive!




Sorry.


------

Also next time a I play a military shooter im going to dress in the most clownish pink flowery costume I can find just to trigger the ppl who are bothered by it.

I enjoy shooting black chicks in the face (in the video game - only the video game).

 

[Sosokrates]

I enjoy shooting black chicks in the face (in the video game - only the video game).

What are u feeling and thinking when doing this?

 

[SJRB]

"Why is no one playing our game?"

 

[Zannegan]

Equivocal as it is, this quote gave me the most hope of any 2042 news since launch:
"Some of the design choices we made with the game also did not resonate with everyone in our community."

This one reminded me why the real issues of the game will in all likelihood not only go unfixed in this entry, but will probably be repeated in the next.
“I believe that we’re going to see this game do really well over the course of time.”

 

[Braag]

I have several friends who are real diehard Battlefield fans and not one of them liked 2042. Only few of them refunded though.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

If you don't like the game don't buy It.
Customer: Okay.

 

[Skifi28]

Understatement of the year.

 

[strange headache]

In the company's Q3 earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson said that Battlefield 2042 has always been an "ambitious game" for EA, noting that much of the game was made during COVID-19 lockdowns that ultimately impacted the final product.

"Developing this game with our teams working from home for nearly two years ultimately proved to be challenging," he said.

So is was COVID's fault that you decided to remove basic functions the scoreboard?

Sounds more like an easy scapegoat.

 

[Inviusx]

He's not wrong when he says the BF games have long tails. The servers are pretty much stacked up until the next one releases. Was definitely the case with BFV moving into 2042, there were dozens of full servers just before release and even now BFV is still hugely popular.

For 2042 the the big change they need to make is the removal of heroes and to reinstate the unknown soldier character. Heroes are fine in certain games but just make no sense in Battlefield. Their risk here didn't pay off and they need to course correct now and start listening to their fanbase again.

Move heroes exclusively to Hazard Zone, they make way more sense in that mode. Bring back unknown soldiers to All Out War and that will be a huge show of goodwill to the fans.

They have to act now.

 

[Kenpachii]

So is was COVID's fault that you decided to remove basic functions the scoreboard?

Sounds more like an easy scapegoat.

They removed the scoreboard because there was no way to fill 128 servers without massive bot injections. Everybody that plays on BF games that are probably most populaire on PC anyway, knows this. If you press tab and show the scoreboard u would see for 95% of the match u are playing against bots and people will demand them to be removed as result.

Anyway

BF5 killed the franchise. BF2042 looked like a good solid jump forwards. While i like it and many other probably did like it. I do realize i am a different crowd that looks at different things in these type of games then most people.

What battlefield players want is, traditional warfare and realistic visuals to deck it out with, with a engaging gameplay loop.
What EA wants, is a milk cow that competes against warzone/fortnite
What EA heads push, is woke trash nobody cares for as majority of players that play the game aren't believers in the woke church specially in the eu east/russia / middle east its a good way to not sell your product, but probably also the west.

They didn't learn, they didn't improve. They delivered a product that's basically boring, dull, needs a 3k computer to even run at higher settings at smooth framerates. And removes basic features bf players demand.

Dice is dead.