The Battlefield series is one of the most successful game franchises in the history of gaming, with over 100 million copies sold worldwide to date and over $12 billion in revenue generated for EA Studios. However, in recent years the franchise has suffered from declining sales and the departure of key developers from the team.
The 2nd most recent entry in the series, Battlefield V, did not perform to expectations following its launch in November 2018, failing to attract new customers and retain existing ones. It was criticized for its progression system, loot boxes, and controversial portrayal of World War 2.
The Battlefield 2042 disaster
Battlefield 2042 did even worse than its predecessor, with “Battlefield V” missing EA’s revenue projections for that quarter. It was so bad that they haven’t even released their true numbers yet.
That all said is the Battlefield franchise dead and can It be revived? I for one think It can be.
The biggest problem plaguing Battlefield is its constant obsession with customization. That isn’t for the weapons but rather for the player appearance or what their vehicles look like. I get it, Fortnite did it so it must be a good idea right?
Gameplay aside, if you compare Hell Let Loose to Battlefield 5 you can be sure that one looks a lot more authentic in terms of uniforms and appearances of weapons. Battlefield 5 was a gorgeous game no doubt but if it hadn’t been so bogged down with its “cinematic” version of WW2 and mix of ludicrous uniforms we could have been more immersed.
Battlefield 1 was the best in terms of really giving you that authentic feel. It was even recently featured by Jackfrags. I have played it recently and it’s still as good as ever and the playerbase is strong.
2042 was released with a similar feel of the Battlefield 1 series which was supposed to be a more grounded and grim take of modern/future warfare. Instead, we got a weird lighthearted take of it feeling more like a happy-go-lucky type of shooter.
So what is in store for the next Battlefield game or will there be one at all? Well I for one think that it may be awhile before there is another release. With such failures as of recently it will be hard to convince management to let them have another go.
Star Wars Battlefront seems to be serving them well and it shows that they can make popular shooters similar to Battlefield that have both great gameplay and graphics. However they will need to make improvements.
So I wouldn’t fear that the franchise is dead, there is a small chance they could hit another epic mark like they did with Battlefield 1. However I wouldn’t hold my breath either.
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