To say that a lot is riding on Battlefield 6’s success would be the understatement of the year, but recently, EA has given fans reason to doubt. In a recent community update, DICE doubled down on plans to not lock weapon types to different classes, emulating the flexible approach to game design found in Battlefield 2042. But this announcement has not gone down too well with some fans, and frankly, it could have much broader implications for the real driving philosophy behind Battlefield 6.
All of this comes in the wake of EA announcing it wants Battlefield 6 to have 100 million players, another announcement that made many fans worry about the implications of such a large goal. A lot of resources are reportedly being funnelled into the next BF game, with EA seemingly wanting it to be the premiere AAA shooter experience. But such moves risk compromising the franchise’s identity, and the very reason people fell in love with it in the first place. To long-time BF fans, all of this might sound very familiar, as it wasn’t long ago that EA’s next big Battlefield game would be a “love letter to the fans,” only for things to turn out quite differently.
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Battlefield 6 Promised a Return to Its Roots, but It’s Looking More Like 2042 Every Day
The last couple of community updates for Battlefield 6 have shaken many in the community for good reason. Despite strong pushback against DICE’s decision-making, the studio seems to be going ahead with unlocking all weapon types for every class, while offering further detail on how the class structure will work. Not only are all weapons unlocked, but each class has a signature gadget, as well as a trait that is supposed to define its playstyle.
The immediate thing to notice is that it’s all very 2042. The series’ most recent entry, Battlefield 2042 has evolved over the years to become a respectable FPS title. Yet it remains a flawed game in the eyes of many fans, and thus they held hope that the next game could be a clean break. Instead, many of the plans detailed in the latest update sound very similar to the ideas that 2042 brought, just iterated on slightly to avoid association with the Specialist label.
This is not to say that 2042 did not have good ideas. In fact, many prior BF games have had unique mechanics that were confined to one game and never saw the light of day again. Rather, it’s the choice to stick so closely to one interpretation of the series. This is arguably what makes DICE’s decision to emulate the last BF game more worrying; 2042 was already criticized for feeling like it had no direction, so if BF6 copies its homework, it won’t find an identity of its own.
Between Updates and Battlefield Labs Leaks, Community Sentiment Is Locked in a Tug of War
Ironically enough, some of the most exciting details to come out about BF6 have been the many Battlefield Labs leaks, which have been received with cautious optimism by all kinds of players. Yet, it seems like each time DICE gives a formal update on the state of its next big game, there’s something new to be worried about. Not everything to come out of Labs has been positively received, of course, but it does highlight a common trend with DICE of the studio not being able to land its messaging consistently.
If Battlefield 6 is truly going to be a return to form, reminding players of the halcyon BF4 days, then DICE might be better served by showing off more of that. 2042 is still too fresh in the minds of the community, and taking too many notes from it risks jeopardizing the very mission Battlefield 6 set itself.
Battlefield 2042
5/10
- Released
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November 19, 2021
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood, Strong Language, Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Electronic Arts
- Engine
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Frostbite
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