Low population - on specific servers and across the entire game - is a serious problem. And this is how it manifests. I'm not excusing it or apologizing for EA, but every game hits this point in its lifespan. We should feel lucky it took this long. In most games, serious triple-A titles, the workable lifespan is much shorter.
Yes, EA is responsible for driving away large chunks of the population. That's on them. Yes, Respawn is responsible for the design of game mechanics that provide an immense skill gap, when long term viability (and overall player retention) would have been much better served by game mechanics that allow normal people to attain competence without cheats or Ritalin. There are a hundred different ways in which Respawn failed. And a thousand different ways EA failed. And continue to compound their failures on an almost daily basis. But none of that changes the fact that this day was still inevitable.
Are there short term bandaids they could apply to the situation to get us through another few seasons? Maybe. Maybe not. But the fact that EA is AS WE SPEAK laying off a significant number of Respawn employees says to me very clearly that they do not give a rat's backside what becomes of this game. So I wouldn't hold my breath for any meaningful changes.
