months have passed Battlefield 2042 and its community. After the game’s disappointing launch, it was torn to shreds by the series’ most disaffected fans.
Unfortunately, as it tends to do, this extends to DICE developers as well. Since Battlefield 2042 launched in November, some of those involved in the game have been bombarded with insults and the usual abuse on social media. Their tweets will become memes on the game’s largest subreddit.
Just this week, as everyone started coming back from the holidays, the Battlefield 2042 subreddit kicked off the year with a new obsession. Andy McNamara, EA’s director of shooter communications, tweeted that he was frustrated that fans on Reddit and Twitter were expecting something from DICE immediately after the holidays, which was never a reality of.
“Guys, people have to rest. We have a lot to do, but we have to figure out what’s possible. Let’s come back from the break and get back to work. Love you guys, but these expectations are brutal. You want Things need time frames, design and execution,” McNamara wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
Many people on the Battlefield 2042 subreddit ran off with the tweet, spawning countless memes and threads mocking so-called “cruel expectations.” It gets so out of hand that you can’t escape them, forcing subreddit modders to declare that they are willing to lock down the entire subreddit if the toxicity can’t be controlled.
“When we say this subreddit has become very toxic, that’s an understatement,” the message read.
“It’s almost impossible to have a simple discussion without insulting each other – it’s really starting to hurt the entire battlefield community, and that each of us is a part of it.
“As far as moderation goes, our mods have always been laid-back – we do our best to make everyone’s voice heard, no matter how frustrated or angry, but we’ve always been in a position to insult or harass anyone” never will be tolerated. We will do everything we can to reduce this toxicity. If that means shutting down for a while, we will. “
Suspending the subreddit is a last resort. Until then, mods will try to lock down suspicious threads early to prevent things from going into the nuclear option. That said, the state of the Battlefield 2042 subreddit is not surprising. It has a large community of die-hard series fans who have expressed very clear opinions on the game, design direction, and various issues. Anything from EA and DICE that doesn’t quite match their expectations is bound to be remembered.
McNamara has since apologized for his earlier tweet, but it’s clear the relationship isn’t good. “It seems my information is unclear,” He said.
