Battlefield 2042 The third season of content recently launched, and it also joins EA Play’s base lineup. Anyone who subscribes to the service can play it now, which also means it’s available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members.
But is that enough to get new players into Battlefield 2042? Is now the right time?
We’ve seen a lot of games get a huge boost when they join Game Pass late in their life cycle. Even if they don’t become the most followed or active players on the service, Game Pass has proven to be a lifeline to games that might otherwise die.
Marvel’s Avengers is an example that comes to mind recently.After joining the service, it Soaring to the Top 10 Most Played Xbox GamesThe narrative went from all doom and gloom, and Steam leaderboard views, to a more hopeful story for the future of the game.
If you’re new to Marvel’s Avengers news, you might be surprised to know that it continues to receive updates and fresh content to this day. The Winter Soldier, the next hero of the game, arrive tomorrow. Part of the re-support has to be tied to the increase in player numbers (and interest) brought on by the addition of Game Pass.
This is the closest thing to a free-to-play boost actually Make the game free. Players have long suggested the free-to-play route as an option, but Square Enix never listened. Game Pass effectively acts as a revolving door, allowing new and returning players to enter when veterans leave to play other games; only to return later to play new content.
The Avengers’ continued money-making opportunities don’t lie in consistent sales, and you could argue they never did. The real money is earned through microtransactions, and there are a lot of them in the game. This is what most publishers want to happen when they put an ongoing multiplayer game on Game Pass or play it completely for free.
Much like The Avengers, many debate whether making Battlefield 2042 free-to-play would have a similar effect. Whenever a new season came around, the game’s Steam numbers were restored, but they never reached launch heights. Meanwhile, every other Battlefield game on Steam is moving beyond 2042 at launch.
If Battlefield 2042 comes down to a similar price, or somehow becomes available to players with no initial cost, then Battlefield 2042 could certainly do the same. Enter Game Pass/EA Play. The base tier of EA Subscription Services is usually reserved for expired catalog titles.
EA basically uses it to assign value to games that are no longer sold at any meaningful numbers. This is where last year’s sports games, EA Originals, and more were live.
Whether EA wants to admit it or not, Battlefield 2042 has reached that moment in its life. This is a game that is likely to use up all of its sales potential, so it’s time to make it available to a new audience.
But the key question remains, are there enough people who are just waiting for a similar moment to jump for the fences? I don’t think so, for several reasons.
First, as the continued success of classic Battlefield games proves, hardcore fans and newcomers alike don’t just like bang for the buck — they love classic Battlefield. Whether it’s the choice or the technical limitations, Battlefield 2042 lacks a lot of the special things that have made the past few games.
i could go on very specific Mistakes have been made in the past few races, some were too severe and drove me away. But I promise to experience Battlefield in every game, just like Call of Duty players know the next game will have a killstreak.
Battlefield 2042 may have combined arms combat, but its maps are bland, lifeless, overly large, and lack of destructiveness exacerbates all of these problems. You can’t play it like a class shooter because it doesn’t have classes. It’s not exactly an arcade shooter, however. It’s the worst part of Battlefield’s interdependence, and the worst part of Apex Legends’ hero-driven gameplay.
Then there is the question of timing. Battlefield 2042 intends to reintroduce the class system to the game sometime early next year, effectively turning it into a Battlefield game.
Whenever that update arrives, the timing of the EA Play/Game Pass move just gets better. “Battlefield 2042 brings back one thing it didn’t launch. Come back, everyone was a compelling pitch. Not so much now.
Don’t get me wrong, the 2042 is definitely better today than it was two or three months ago, but there are only so many fixes you can do to fix fundamental design issues.
The arrival of the class will be the first major overhaul to attempt this impossible task. Even if it fails, it will be a great talking point and a reason for new/returning players to join.
Of course, this could still happen, as games will also be on Game Pass then, but when 2023 looks incredibly packed with highly anticipated titles, how many people will actually make it?
The news also happened to arrive halfway through call-of-duty season. If traditional multiplayer isn’t your thing, Warzone 2.0 is free to play, while DMZ is for those who’d rather avoid the $70 buy-in.
Modern Warfare 2 also happens to be an Infinity Ward game, and the studio’s games have traditionally attracted the most war refugees. I should know, I’m one of them.
I really doubt how many people will ditch the hot new game that everyone is playing and spend a few hours deciding whether Battlefield 2042 is worth getting into today, but maybe someday.
