When taking a look at Battlefield 6 discourse in current weeks, there’s one phrase I preserve seeing pop up: “fumbled.” The highs of the primary few weeks after launch are gone, and whereas Battlefield 6 is not in some form of disastrous, imminent shutdown scenario, it is actually struggled to capitalize on the early hype. Season 2 has solely added to its downside, with a poor response from gamers and a roadmap of content material that has sparked debates about EA and Battlefield Studios’ dedication to the sport. An absence of recent battlegrounds has been one in all Season 2’s largest criticisms, however BF6’s producer Alexia Christofi says that Battlefield Studios is attempting to “carry issues to gamers as we are able to and as shortly as we are able to construct them,” and that it “empathizes” with gamers asking for extra.
Regardless of Battlefield 6’s gargantuan launch, which noticed it correctly take the struggle to Name of Obligation Black Ops 6, sentiment has soured and participant counts have tumbled because the begin of Season 1 again in November final yr. I used to be quietly hopeful that Season 2, which dropped earlier this week, can be the start of a extra constructive interval for the FPS sport, however sadly it appears the alternative has occurred. Whereas there is a welcome injection of recent weapons and autos to the fight sandbox, a flurry of limited-time modes and simply two new maps have underwhelmed followers, and on Steam not less than, Season 2’s had solely a modest impact on participant depend.
In an interview with GameSpot, which was posted the day Season 2 went stay, Christofi seems eager to carry greater than two maps per season to the sport. “By way of cadence, we’d like to create far more maps,” they are saying. “However we’re simply attempting to form of carry issues to gamers as we are able to and as shortly as we are able to construct them.”
To me, this appears considerably at odds with feedback given by producer Phil Girette, who tells TechRadar in a separate interview that Season 2 is the “basis” of all future seasons and “the extent we have to hit.”
Christofi additionally says in a later interview with GamesBeat: “We’re releasing on a cadence the place we really feel the maps are as much as high quality and we’re pleased with how they play, the variability they offer to the gamers. I utterly empathize with gamers when they need extra maps and extra content material. They speak about that as a result of they’re passionate in regards to the sport, passionate in regards to the franchise. However we’re a workforce of a sure measurement. We do not need to sacrifice high quality.”
Within the wake of Season 2, there have been lots of comparisons drawn between the quantity of maps on supply in a Battlefield 6 season, versus what growth packs in video games like Battlefield 4 supplied – an unfair comparability, if you happen to ask me. However nonetheless, I wholeheartedly agree with followers that two maps per season does not really feel like sufficient, particularly given how commercially profitable Battlefield 6 was at launch.
4 separate groups have been mixed to create Battlefield Studios, and whereas they after all had completely different duties in creating the bottom sport, that is lots of builders which might be presumably nonetheless assigned to Battlefield 6. That seemingly massive useful resource, the truth that the sport launched so strongly, and Battlefield Studios’ reliance on limited-time experiences, is resulting in comprehensible frustration on the means seasons are being approached.
If EA is content material with how Battlefield 6 is doing proper now, or there actually are limitations on how briskly the workforce at Battlefield Studios can produce new maps, then I doubt something will change. But when it needs to actually solidify the sport for the long run and see participant counts shoot up nearer to launch ranges, larger and extra impactful seasons are going to be the one means to try this.
