Battlefield 6 dev says 2042 was "ambitious" but didn't "have the right feel"

Everyone remembers where they were when Battlefield 2042 launched. The most controversial entry in EA's long-running series, its half-baked multiplayer and missing campaign led to colossal disappointment at launch, which it never quite recovered from. It's had a bit of a tailwind in recent months, reaching a new peak player count in the wake of the Battlefield 6 open beta, but it's still regarded as a blot on the series' history. But, talking to PCGamesN, one BF6 dev says the team is much more confident this time around.

"I think 2042, for us, was a very ambitious goal," says Jeremy Chubb, producer at DICE. "Trying to embrace the possibilities of 128-player and even larger-scale maps. For a lot of our audience, it didn't quite have the right feel."

He's not kidding. Battlefield 2042 achieved a middling 68 on Metacritic, with user reviews putting it at just 2.3/10. However, that feedback has led to the developers going back to the series' roots for Battlefield 6, which, based on our recent BF6 preview, could be one of the best FPS games in years.

"This game [Battlefield 6] is much more in tune with what we built in Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4, particularly," Chubb says. "Aspects of those games come through really strong."

With a successful open beta under its belt, the developers feel a lot more positive about Battlefield 6 than they did about 2042. The feedback they've received is good, and the criticisms are mostly specific to the open beta rather than the game at large. Did you feel the maps were too small? Don't worry, the full game will have you covered there.

"There's an energy that we're getting from the audience right now which is overwhelming," Chubb says, "that I think feels a little different [to Battlefield 2042]. There's a confidence to us because we set up to work with the community. We have this program, Battlefield Labs. We put sometimes quite crude software in front of people, and that was a journey we all had to go on together to show in-development experiences."

With the success of the open beta and the communication with the audience through Battlefield Labs tests, Battlefield Studios benefits from a lot of regular feedback. It's this pseudo-early access that could act as the secret weapon when it comes to future Battlefield games.

"I don't think we needed reminding that there are a lot of Battlefield fans out there," says Chubb. "And they're super passionate about the experiences that we build. But I think maybe there's some value in everybody contributing together."

If you can't wait to play more, prepare for the Battlefield 6 release date by making sure you've got one of the best gaming monitor to see every explosion in graphic detail. We've also got a full list of the Battlefield 6 weapons we'll see on launch day. Or you can read more about the challenges of remastering classic maps for BF6.

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Additional reporting by Paul Kelly.