Summary
- Battlefield 2042 has undergone significant updates since its controversial launch in 2021, addressing major issues and adding new content.
- Seasonal updates brought new maps, game modes, weapons, and improvements, with Season 7 marking the final major update for the game.
- Despite initial setbacks, Battlefield 2042 experienced a significant comeback. With the title redeemed in the eyes of some players - and forever irredeemable in the eyes of others - DICE moving on to a new Battlefield makes sense.
Battlefield 2042 is almost unrecognizable from the problematic state that it launched in, with the title having received a wide range of content updates since its release in 2021. A huge amount of pressure has dominated the post-launch life of the game, with the first few months of its release being mired by a lot of controversy that drove many players away from the game.
The seasonal updates of Battlefield 2042 were the main way that DICE brought change to the title, often coming with new maps, game modes, weapons, vehicles, and serious overhauls of major game mechanics. Following the recent launch of Battlefield 2042's Season 7, the vast majority of the game's major sticking points have been rectified, even if some players refused to forgive DICE and give the same chance. However, while improvements have been made to the once-struggling FPS, DICE was right to announce that Season 7 will be the final major season for Battlefield 2042.
Battlefield 2042's Season 7 is the Perfect Place to Conclude the Game
The launch of Battlefield 2042 was arguably the most controversial of the franchise's entire history. Many fans were immediately disappointed by the news that 2042 would not feature a single-player experience, with a huge amount of pressure being placed on the multiplayer offerings of the game as a result.
This made the absence of traditional multiplayer features in Battlefield 2042 all the more controversial, with standard mechanics like leaderboards and the franchise's four class system not appearing at launch. These omissions, combined with numerous bugs, controversial specialists, and a small pool of excessively large maps, had a devastating impact on the early player counts of Battlefield 2042, with the game's Steam player count falling below 5,000 just a few months after releasing.
Fortunately, a lot of these issues have been fixed over the years, with DICE slowly but surely catering the game's post-launch updates to smartly tackle the biggest issues of 2042 while bolstering the game's content. The four class system made a triumphant return in January 2022, for example, with new weapons and maps being a major focus of more recent seasons. Reworks for overly large maps were released to make them flow better, while bugs were fixed with every major patch and specialists were rebalanced to be less impactful on the core gameplay.
Season 7 Completes Battlefield 2042's Content Comeback
Season 6 of Battlefield 2042 introduced the map Redacted, which crucially offered a smaller-scale experience akin to the likes of Operation Metro that 2042 was sorely missing. This led to a bit of a resurgence for the game, especially when combined with free weekend periods, and the recently launched Season 7 capitalized on that success by adding the following content:
- Two limited-time modes
- Two maps
- New LMG weapon
- New XFAD-4 Drauger Aerial Bomber vehicle
Though it may be disappointing to see the game's support coming to an end after it has finally found itself in a better state, DICE's announcement that Season 7 will in fact be the final season for Battlefield 2042 seems very sensible when considering the sheer amount of content that has been added to the game since launch. With the title now possessing a wide range of gameplay experiences and being more reflective of the dominant Battlefield multiplayer modes of the past, players can now enjoy Season 7 as the swansong of Battlefield 2042, while DICE can look towards what will come next for the Battlefield franchise. When also taking into consideration that 2042's reputation is unfixable for part of the Battlefield fan base regardless of what is added to the game, moving on to a brand-new title is ideal.
Battlefield 2042
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 65 /100 Critics Rec: 32%
- Released
- November 19, 2021
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- DICE, Criterion Games, Ripple Effect
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
WHERE TO PLAY
- Franchise
- Battlefield
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
- How Long To Beat
- N/A
- File Size Xbox Series
- 84 GB (June 2023)
- Platforms That Support Crossplay
- PC, PS5 & Xbox Series X|S and PS4 & Xbox One
