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Battlefield 2042 developer Dice reckons the game is finally shaping up, nine months after launch and just in time for its second season.
The shooter had a rocky release last year that saw it hemorrhage players as its active community fell into the doldrums. Battlefield 2042’s first season became the acid test of its future, as Dice tried to claw back its player count with a somewhat meager content schedule.
Speaking to TechRadar Gaming in a recent press briefing, the developer described Season 1 as a success. It reckons the improvements made over the last few months have allowed the team to better understand where Battlefield 2042 should be heading.
“I think players really appreciated the Season 1 map, Exposure, which played really well with the mixed combat between the tunnels and the different game modes, and the different experiences you can have with that,” said lead game designer, Florian le Bihan. “I think the Specialist Lis has been very appreciated as well, and was a great addition to the roster.
“They’re great lessons to tell us that we’re on the right track when it comes to what really starts working for Battlefield, and they’re lessons we’re taking into future seasons.”
A rocky road
Game design director Feras Musmar went on to say that Battlefield 2042’s live-service model has allowed the team to better observe what players want from the game. Seeing how players reacted to Season 1 has informed them as to what features work best.
“We introduced weekly missions in [Season 1], so it was interesting to see how that changed player behavior, and the different playstyles that emerged as the different missions showed up in the game,” says Musmar. “We got a lot of lessons from that.”
Battlefield 2042 hasn’t had a great run since its launch late last year. A slew of glitches, bugs, and quality-of-life issues sent its player count plummeting months after release. As game-breaking glitches continued to appear and content was removed, the game’s delayed first season looked touch-and-go. The shooter seems to have weathered that initial storm, though, with SteamCharts (opens in new tab) showing it’s consistently maintained a higher player count since the release of Season 1.
As publisher EA has said previously, it’s not giving up on the game. Season 2 will introduce new map Stranded and fresh Specialist Crawford. Three new weapons are also coming, alongside two new vehicles. All of that can be unlocked by progressing along a free battle pass. Battlefield 2042 Season 2 arrives next week, on Tuesday, August 30.