November 2021 was a bad month for DICE and EA. By their own admission, Battlefield 2042 “did not live up to expectations.” In response to its disastrous launch, fans and critics took aim at them for serious oversights and omissions in the bug-filled first-person shooter. On Metacritic, it holds a critic score of 68 and a user score of just 2.1. And rightly so. It launched in a truly dire state. What should’ve been a return to form for the series (after the OK but disappointing Battlefield V) instead cemented its decline. Nothing showcases that more than the diminishing Battlefield 2042 player stats.
To make matters worse, all this was clearly foreseen. The widely derided open beta showed that Battlefield 2042 needed more time in development. But EA pushed ahead with its launch regardless. It seems they learnt nothing from the catastrophic release of Cyberpunk 2077. Now, four months later, the Battlefield 2042 player stats show the devastating impact its failed launch has had on the game and series as a whole. Not only did it fail to sell as hoped – those that did buy it are completely abandoning it.
Battlefield 2042: A Missed Opportunity
With the immense success of the rebooted Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in 2019 and Call of Duty: Warzone in 2020, Battelfield fans were keen to see how EA and DICE would counter their top competitor’s success.
After the failed Firestorm Battle Royale mode in Battlefield V, it was surprising they didn’t take another stab at the in-vogue genre with 2042. After all, the near-future setting coupled with lessons learnt from Firestorm and the option to leverage fans’ ongoing gripes with Warzone seemed like a recipe for success. But they opted for a different route and it may have disadvantaged Battlefield 2042 from the start.
Regardless, fans have fond memories of Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4. And 2042 not only promised a return to a similar setting but also to that level of quality. Battlefield 3 and 4 were excellent multiplayer games. They arguably contributed more to making Battlefield the top CoD competitor it is than any other game in the series. However, when Battlefield 2042 launched and failed to achieve the standard of those decade old titles, players deserted the series in droves. And they did so at a rapid rate.
Battlefield 2042 Player Stats Comparison
Battlefield 2042 has less players than Battlefield V and Battlefield 1
The graph above shows the number of players for Battlefield 2042, Battlefield V, Battlefield 1, and Battlefield 4. 2042 started out strong with 105,397 players on day 1. However, just two weeks later, it had nearly halved its player base. Most alarming, though, is that one month after that it had been overtaken by its predecessor, Battlefield V, in the number of players. Considering V‘s lukewarm reception on release, that’s a chilling indictment of 2042.
The rapid decline of Battlefield 2042 players can principally be attributed to one thing – unfulfilled expectations. That’s because the game had a tremendous amount of hype around it. And the final product did not live up to that hype. In fact, it completely missed an open goal. Fans had been clamouring for a new Battlefield title for a long time and were ready to love 2042. Prior to its release, previous titles in the series experienced a resurgence in player numbers (more on that later). That indicates renewed interest and excitement in the series. But 2042 did not deliver on that. This left fans no choice but to return to older games or abandon the series entirely.
Remarkably, the once derided Battlefield V has held its player base steady over the past few months. On reflection, it’s not that bad compared to 2042. The same trend can be seen for Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 4. While none of these three titles have experienced a substantial uptick in players, they have remained steady. Battlefield 1 (which is six years old) even exceeded 2042‘s player numbers for the first time in mid-January.
A similar number of players are playing Battlefield 4 as Battlefield 2042
Most notably, however, is that Battlefield 2042 player stats are nearly at the same level as Battlefield 4. That’s right, the latest entry in the series could be on the cusp of having less players than the nine-year-old game that inspired it. That fact shows there is still a desire for modern/near-future Battlefield games – as long as they work. But it’s not just that. In many ways, Battlefield 2042 doesn’t even measure up to 4. After nine years, that is 2042‘s biggest failure. And the closing gap between the two games illustrates that.
Battlefield Player Stats: Series’ Total Players
Recently, Tom Henderson of xfire.com reported, “according to EA, things took a turn, and that turn was clears throat, the surprise release of Halo: Infinite multiplayer (I wish I was joking).”
The ludicrous assertion here is that because Halo: Infinite was a polished and complete game, it made Battlefield 2042 look bad. Come on, EA. You’re not kidding anyone. Halo: Infinite didn’t even come out until 8th December. Two weeks before that 2042 had already lost nearly half the players it started with.
The graph above shows the total number of players on Steam for the past four main titles in the Battlefield series. As mentioned earlier, 2042‘s announcement sparked a renewed interest in the series. Before it even came out, total players had exceeded 120,000. There was a clear interest and desire by fans to play Battlefield games. And while the numbers have now declined from 2042‘s release, they’re still above where they were one year ago.
EA may want to point the finger at Halo: Infinite, but it’s clear the fault lies with their own broken game. Battlefield 2042 had a real opportunity to capture and hold an audience that was excited for a new entry in the series. But it failed. Not because of any other games – it simply isn’t very good.
What’s Next?
The silver lining here is that the Battlefield series as a whole does have more players now than it did last year. Battlefield 2042 Season One may have been delayed until “early Summer”, but it could mark the beginning of a resurgence for the game. Or at least the chance of one.
EA has promised fixes for the maligned shooter – and there’s still the possibility that fans could eventually get to experience the game that was promised. However, it seems unlikely. Mending the series’ reputation needs to begin with rebuilding the trust of its fans.
Luckily for EA, long-term hardcore players haven’t abandoned the series completely. They’d be wise to leverage that by releasing fresh content for their older games to build some goodwill amongst that core player base. Although, it shouldn’t come at the detriment of urgently needed improvements and fixes for Battlefield 2042.
What happens next is down to EA and DICE. But, as the player stats prove, Battlefield 2042 – which promised to take the series into the future – has been all but overtaken by the past.
Do you think Battlefield 2042 can be saved? Or do you think the player numbers will continue to drop? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to check out our other gaming articles…
