DICE General Manager and Vice President Rebecka Coutaz has commented on the disastrous launch of Battlefield 2042, stating that it created an “obligation to create one of the best Battlefields the world has ever seen” for Battlefield 6. Coutaz assumed the role of DICE General Manager and VP in 2021, shortly after Battlefield 2042’s troubled launch, and Battlefield 6 will now be the first game in the series under her leadership.
Ever since the release of Battlefield 1942 in 2002, the series has cemented itself as one of the greatest first-person shooter franchises of all time. While Battlefield regularly goes toe-to-toe with Call of Duty, the series suffered a huge setback in 2021 with the disastrous launch of Battlefield 2042. The shooter received average reviews from critics, but the Battlefield community was much harsher on the title, even making Battlefield 2042 the worst-reviewed game on Steam at one point in time. Fans of the series cited performance issues, missing features from classic entries, such as server browser and scoreboard, and DICE’s decision to replace traditional classes with specialists as just some of the reasons for its negative reviews.
Battlefield Boss Comments on 2042's Failure
While a steady stream of updates has improved Battlefield 2042 significantly, the game’s launch clearly had an impact on DICE’s future direction. In a new interview with Gamesradar, Coutaz said, ” [I] felt an obligation to create one of the best Battlefields the world has ever seen. I owe that to the community and to the teams. That is my drive. That’s why I’m here.” As for the controversy surrounding Battlefield 2042, largely the removal of the series’ traditional class system, Design Director Shashank Uchil told the outlet, “Look, we try stuff. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s as simple as that.” He then goes on to explain, “We thought larger player numbers would work – it just didn’t catch on. It’s like when a band tries a new sound. Because we like it, but then players don’t – and in the end, we are subservient to the players. We do what the players want.”
DICE boss Coutaz also commented on the work that the studio put into improving Battlefield 2042 through its many seasonal updates. “The game is in a completely different state than when we released it,” she said. The 2021 shooter is also being helped along by the upcoming release of Battlefield 6, as a special ‘Road to Battlefield 6’ Battle Pass is available for free in Battlefield 2042. The Pass not only allows players to earn numerous free in-game rewards, but it also offers a variety of goodies that can be carried over into Battlefield 6 when it launches next month.
Battlefield 6 is just two weeks away from release, but the next entry in the series will once again be going head-to-head with Call of Duty, as Activision is also gearing up to launch Black Ops 7 just a few weeks later, on November 14. The good news, however, is that Battlefield 6 already appears to be off to a flying start. While Black Ops 7 has already been surrounded in controversy, the Battlefield 6 open beta was a monumental success for publisher EA, becoming the biggest beta in the series’ history and achieving a higher concurrent player count on Steam than Call of Duty. It could be a great sign of what’s to come, but the real test will come on October 10.