Historically DICE’s strategy has been to create a good game and then throw in a gimmick or two to help sell the game:
In Battlefield 4 it was Levolution.
In Battlefield 1 it was Elite soldier kits as well as Behemoths.
In Battlefield 5 it was buildable defenses as well as the V1 rocket.
In Battlefield 2042 it was weather effects as well as Specialists.
However, in recent years - perhaps since the EA takeover of DICE - things have felt differently.
It seems that DICE is now being viewed less as a game producing studio and more as a business unit.
Game-related decisions are now being made, not primarily from the viewpoint of making a good game, but from how they can contribute to maximize profits.
Thus Battlefield as a game has now almost become of secondary concern.
It’s sad to witness this as a Battlefield player.
How long have they been working on the new title? A couple years right?
It’s good to see more and more people come to the realization that giving EA Dice money by means of preordering games is similar to leaving a pedophile alone with children in a kindergarten.
I already arrived at this point during the run up to BFV. I still bought that game at launch though. But after abandoning that game despite their tides of war promises, so we never got to see the Eastern front, D-day and the liberation, they completley lost my trust as a customer.
So no pre-order again for BF2042 and this time no ordering at launch either. And oh boy was I right!
Eventually I picked up 2042 at a discount 7 months after launch.
I used to pre-order plus buy premium to get all DLC. But it’s clear the old guard Battlefield veterans are not the customers they are targeting anymore. They said it themselves in some earlier communication, they are looking for ways to attract new customers. And we all know who those are, it’s the kids who are willing to spend money on stuff like cosmetics.
Why invest a lot of development time to create new maps to please a few old blokes, if instead with little effort you can make a Santa Clause skin you can sell to a lot of kids?
