EA advertised Battlefield 5 as the greatest title in the series but it seems that the critically-acclaimed franchise has lost much of its steam in the recent years. Many fans were alienated by the direction in which the franchise seems to be going. Read below to find out more about the flaws that made the latest Battlefield a disaster.
The trailer trouble
The first issue encountered by the game surfaced when the reveal trailer was released. Even if Battlefield titles weren’t exactly military simulators DICE managed to make them viable from a historic point of view. The situations changed radically in 2018. DICE and EA seemed more interested in chasing trends like the so-called social justice movement and Michael Bay-style settings by filling the game with over-the-top action sequences and what some saw as an exaggerated gendered diversity.
Aggressive attitude
When the fans made their opinions heard DICE and EA offered aggressive responses, accusing anyone that was against their vision of misogyny. The situation escalated when Patrick Soderlund, who was the chief creative officer of Electronic Arts at that point, declared during an interview offered in June that those who didn’t like the concept of female soldiers aren’t obliged to buy the game.
The declaration was perceived to be openly hostile by a large part of the community, leading to another round of heated debates and countless threads on several popular forums.
The trailer was disliked by thousands of fans and the future sales numbers were starting to look bad after the preorder numbers fell dramatically in comparison to other Battlefield titles. EA decided to push the launch date back in order to avoid the competition but it seems that many gamers had already made a choice.
The sale numbers were so low that EA has already heavily discounted the game despite the fact that the title was released back in November. The price of EA stocks is down by 45% in comparison to the all-time high reached in July 2018.
It remains to be seen if EA and DICE learned something from the debacle.
Frances might be just at the beginning of her career, but after attending a technical school, she has a fresh perspective on today’s technology. She contributes to the site with tech news.