Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
Battlefield 2042 was an epic flop. Between missing features, broken mechanics, and mile-long lists of bugs, it was in no way what fans wanted to see out of a much beloved FPS franchise. However, Electronic Arts and developer DICE are not giving up on the game. Rather than cut their losses and move on, relatively new general manager Rebecka Coutaz says the team is dedicated to fixing Battlefield 2042 and it’s pretty much the only thing DICE will have time for over the course of the next few years.
Coutaz shared her thoughts on Battlefield 2042 in a recent conversation with GamesIndustry.biz, where she laid out the team’s commitment to fixing the game. That means not working on anything new, including a possible return to franchises like Mirror’s Edge. When asked about other projects such as Mirror’s Edge, Coutaz was adamant about the team’s efforts to fix Battlefield and make it a game the team can eventually be proud of.
It's a bit of an uphill battle to transform Battlefield 2042 into something good, but one DICE isn’t shying away from.
“We are only focusing on Battlefield 2042,” Coutaz said. “There is no time for anything else and this is what we want to do. In three years, we want to be the first-person shooter powerhouse that DICE deserves to be, and that is what we're going for.”
Coutaz would go on to say that for some of the DICE team, it’s a bit of a vendetta to turn perception of the game around.
“I want the team to be really proud about Battlefield 2042,” she continues. “That is what they are chasing and they have their heart and the passion there. We want to be really, really proud of DICE. We want DICE to be the number one spot for first-person shooter games in Europe, and one of the powerhouses in the world. It's a fabulous team. We're going to make magic together.”
In our review of Battlefield 2042, we were downtrodden about the state of the game, seeing how it shipped in a clearly unacceptable state. Between a lack of cohesiveness in modes and maps, a questionable swap of the class system, a difficult UI, and other issues, it just wasn’t good. It can certainly be said that on a long enough timeline, EA and DICE might be able to fix these issues and make Battlefield 2042 into the game it was supposed to be. The reasonable question then becomes, at that point, will anyone still care? Stay tuned as we continue to follow this story for further updates.