Launched more than twenty years ago, in September 2002, Battlefield 1942 revolutionized the first-person shooter, bringing together up to 64 players online in large-scale battles, a world away from what competition could offer at the time.
Over the years, the franchise has stood out from its few competitors, including Medal of Honor (now forgotten) and Obligations, placing DICE, the studio behind its development, at the top of the list of star studios. With episodes that constantly seek to push technical and gameplay limits, Battlefield Sometimes you get lost and try. Battlefield 6 a return to basics eagerly awaited by fans.
On the occasion of the launch of the title this October 10, Tech&Co invites you to rediscover the saga that will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2027.
From PC nerds to dildos
Of Battlefield 1942the founding episode, Battlefield 6In the last episode, there is a chasm. It is above all technical, since DICE, the studio behind the series, changed its graphics engine to adopt a much more malleable solution than the Refractor Engine of the beginning, the Frostbite Engine. Introduced in 2008, it has of course evolved a lot since then, but is still used today. Of course, it is optimized for consoles and PC, both for the classic modes (single-player and multiplayer) and for the more exotic ones (Battle Royale), introducing the latest fashionable technologies, such as ray tracing and pixel-by-pixel destruction.
There is also a gap in the game between the first Battlefield and the one that will be released on October 10. Demanding at first, it gave way to a more mainstream-oriented approach, much to the dismay of early fans. Helped by the arrival of the series on consoles, this change of direction will above all allow it to see its player base increase considerably.
Among the 2.5 million copies of Battlefield 1942 released only on PC and the 17.4 million Battlefield 3 Sold for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, there is a world. The number of new players is skyrocketing and with it the ambition of Electronic Arts.
Noting that his series manages to compete with the global success of ObligationsThe American publisher will adopt a new development approach within DICE, increasing the use of internal studios to provide support, such as Activision. If the saga is not annualized, the pace of release will accelerate with shorter development times and the risk of finding ourselves in difficulties.
With Battlefield V, the beginning of the problems
This is exactly what will happen next. Battlefield 1. With this new episode, released in 2016, DICE takes the opposite view of modern warfare or World War II by focusing on World War I. 13 million copies will be sold with several paid extensions. The study appears to be off to a good start.
Except just two years later, Battlefield V will come and ruin everything. Without the help of a very short development time and maximum pressure placed on the teams, the title will disappoint for several reasons.
The return of World War II a year after the relative failure of Call of duty World War IIlack of maps, including Allied Landing, but iconic of the franchise, technical and game optimization with absent subscribers, a Battle Royale mode barely launched and already forgotten… The machine gets stuck.
Sales are dropping drastically and the player base is shrinking month after month.
With that in mind, we imagine DICE will do the best it can with Battlefield 2042. On paper, one could believe it. Released in 2021, the title allows us to experience a conflict that will take place in the near future, but with tools and options from the future. From 64 players we went to 128 and the single-player campaign is abandoned in favor of a “Danger Zone” mode where the objective is to complete a mission against other teams.
Portal mode also tries to revolutionize the community by offering a complete battle editor.
But once launched, the game does not convince. First, all maps have been designed to accommodate 128 players, so they are too large when there are missing players on a server. Some games become very long and fans start abandoning the game.
The great nonsense of Battlefield 2042
Aware of the problems, DICE will begin a true journey of the cross. The studio will rework all the cards over many months to readapt them to a more restricted population, more in line with what constitutes the essence of Battlefield. But all the efforts in the world do not change the disenchantment of the players with Battlefield 2042whose monitoring was finally abandoned after just two years of operation.
At Electronic Arts, which is already struggling to emerge from the successive failures of Andromeda mass effect andHymnwe see red. The decision was then made to change everything to review the foundations.
For Battlefield 6Vince Zampella, creator of Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Titanfall AND Apex Legendstakes command of “Battlefield Studios”. Behind this somewhat pompous name is DICE, which still has control of the entire project, but also Criterion, Ripple Effect and Motive.
A series of studies that each have one objective: to offer a part of the content of the next Battlefield which should be “a return to basics”.
Get the fans back, whatever the cost?
The ideas contributed by Battlefield 2042Like the 128-player maps, you abandon them, start a solo campaign, and return to the class system.
Numerous test sessions with players are organized well before launch, as Florian Le Bihan, lead game designer at DICE, explains to Tech&Co: “Testing with players and internally allowed us to see how the game is evolving, and feedback is very important. Fans know what they want.”
There is no doubt that the franchise is risking its true future with Battlefield 6. For Electronic Arts, which is still struggling to recover from the commercial failure of Dragon Age: Veil GuardThe title should be the long-awaited breath of fresh air.
A success that is all the more necessary since the American publisher announced on September 29 an agreement that values it at $55 billion and that should lead to its withdrawal from the American stock market (Nasdaq) between April and July 2026, if all goes well. But that won’t change the fate of Battlefield 6 from now on. In the end, it is the fans who will have the last word.
Source: BFM TV
