Battlefield 2042 is fighting a battle against time: while the developers have to postpone new content, player numbers are plummeting.
The player decline in Battlefield 2042 is now taking on dramatic proportions. According to the statistics website (SteamDB), the multiplayer shooter is no longer in the top 100 most played titles three months after its release. The peak of over 100,000 simultaneous players has dwindled to a meagre 4,000 users.
Last EA had admitted during an investor conference that Battlefield 2042 had not fulfilled the company’s expectations. However, they are still holding on to the game and now want to turn the tide with all their might.
Since then, the development studio DICE has been in repair mode: content in the form of the first season, originally planned for March, has been postponed until the summer; instead, they want to deliver missing core features and make improvements based on player feedback.
Battlefield 2042 was heavily criticised, among other things, because standard functions such as a scoreboard or VoIP were missing, which are now to be added.
Battlefield 2042: If the info on Season 1 is true, this will be the death blow for BF2042
In the meantime, more and more Battlefield influencers are also turning away from the new shooter. For example, Youtuber and streamer Stodeh recently announced he would only be covering Battlefield 2042 sporadically or for new updates. Stodeh originally rose to fame through Battlefield and was able to build up a large community over many years.
Yeah I’m mostly moving on from Battlefield 2042.
It was great for sniping, but I’ve done literally every piece of content I could think of. And I’m proud of that content too.
Will probably play once a week and cover updates.
Don’t be sad: https://t.co/vwyO77wQAE pic.twitter.com/Oo9hXpn8zX
– Stodeh (@StodehTV) February 6, 2022
A similar picture is emerging with Westie, one of the biggest content creators around Battlefield. He already announced in a video in January that he would largely refrain from making future videos on BF2042.
Westie is considered one of the most influential Battlefield Youtubers worldwide. He now devotes himself primarily to CoD Warzone. Here he explains the reasons for his decision
The fact that influential streamers are turning away from Battlefield is only likely to accelerate the downward trend in player numbers. Meanwhile, predecessors Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 5 have again overtaken the new spin-off in terms of popularity. Whether a revival in early summer with Season 1 can succeed is therefore currently questionable.
However, there are only a few real shooter alternatives on the horizon for 2022. Towards the end of the year, Modern Warfare 2, a new CoD with a new mode in the style of Escape from Tarkov, is to be released. World War 3, a possible Free2Play alternative to Battlefield, will also be released soon.
