Battlefield 2042 could cause the entire series to go free-to-play
EA is reporātedly "looking ašt all the options" after the game's poor performance

The disappointing performance of 澳擲幸čæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„询:Battlefield 2042 could encouš¦rage EA to make the seriesš± free-to-play in the future.
In a recent tweet, known Battlefield leaker Tom Henderson said that the developer is reportedly "very disappointed with how Batātlefield 2042 has performed". As a result, the company is said to be "looking at all the options" for the future of the series. According to Henderson, that includes "looking at Free to Play in some capacity".
EA is reportedly very disappointed with how Battlefield 2042 has performed and is "looking at all the options" when it comes to the title, this is including looking at Free to Play in some capaā±city.I'll have more on this tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/WWuDpstyqS
Fan reception of Battlefield 2042 has been very poor. On Steam, 澳擲幸čæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„询:only 32% of revieš¬ws foš„r the game are positive, with concerns being raised over performance, gunplay, and numerous bugs. Those numerous issues appear š³to have been reflected in player šcounts; server populations are another concern, and according to SteamCharts, more Battlefield fans are playing 2018's Battlefield 5 than the new release.
With that in mind, EA's apparent disappointment isn't particularly surprising, but the extent to which it'll be prepared to shake up its flagship shooter remains to be seen. Free-to-play would be a significant adjustment, but there are still a number of other options𦹠on the table, and whatever EA and DICE has planned, it's likely to be several years before we see the fruits of these discussions. Traditional Battlefield development cycles last around two or three years, and a significant change of formula could mean that we'll be waiting even longer for the series' next outing.
Battlefield isn't the only series that's potentially in line for a change - after its acquisition of Activision, Microsoft is reportedly considering abandoning Call of Duty's annual schedule.
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I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sectź¦ions at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.