EA responds to reportedly blaming Halo Infinite for Battlefield 2042’s poor reception
In a ‘Town Hall’ meeting in which they addressed what went wrong with Battlefield 2042, amongst other reasons, EA reportedly blamed Halo Infinite for Battlefield 2042’s poor reception at launch. Now, EA have denied blaming Halo.
It’s no secret that once Battlefield 2042 was out in the wild, players were extremely disappointed with the result. After getting positive scores in early reviews, issues such as missing textures, low frame rates, and rubberbanding became prevalent once it was in players’ hands.
In comparison, Halo Infinite’s highly-anticipated multiplayer received a surprise launch on November 15, just three days after Battlefield 2042’s official launch. According to insider Tom Henderson, EA believed Halo Infinite’s success was part of the reason Battlefield 2042 was received so poorly.
Now, EA have denied the reports, saying the meeting wasn’t about “blaming external factors.”
EA and DICE have acknowledged that Battlefield 2042 isn’t in the best state right now, delaying the Season 1 update and outlining their roadmap for future fixes. And in a company meeting on February 15, EA’s chief operating officer Laura Miele reportedly addressed why they believe Battlefield 2042 received such negative reviews at launch.
Tom Henderson reported in XFire that EA believed Battlefield 2042 was “stable” at launch, however, Miele reportedly said that “things took a turn.” This turn was apparently Halo Infinite’s surprise multiplayer launch, which was so smooth and bug-free that “the comparison between both games was not favourable.”
“These stories are not accurately capturing the discussion and the context,” EA communications VP John Reseburg told PC Gamer. He said it was “an in-depth and very humble internal conversation” that was about “key learnings and actions we are taking, not blaming external factors.”
To back up his report, Henderson has now published the full quote, which VGC has verified is authentic.
This wasn’t the only reason they believe Battlefield 2042 has poor reviews and a dwindling player count. They also said that “basically putting the game on a new engine,” working from home, “PC players having a performance cap,” the live service model, and design choices such as Specialists all negatively impacted its launch.
EA haven’t given up on Battlefield 2042 though, as they revealed that Battlefield’s development teams will be “restructured to ensure a more streamlined development process.”
For more Battlefield 2042, be sure to check out the refund petition that now has over 200,000 signatures, and everything we know about Season 1.
Image Credit: DICE / 343 Industries
