If you were one of the thousands of gamers that played the Battlefield 2042 beta last week and felt underwhelmed then you’re not alone. The beta was rocky, full of bugs, servers were empty and the overall visual presentation was shoddy. Not to mention that most of the features that make a Battlefield game great were missing. If anything, the game felt like a cheap Call of Duty clone and it has sparked concern for the community.

Up to now, gamers have been led to believe that the Battlefield 2042 beta build was “months old”. We reported on the news before the beta kicked off as EA and DICE claimed the build was from earlier this year. However, it seems that is not the case. In fact, Tom Henderson reports that the Battlefield 2042 beta was a build from September.

READ MORE FIFA Rebranding to ‘EA Sports FC’ On The Cards as EA Files Trademarks

He claims that a source at DICE confirmed the beta build was originally the same version that was meant to release during the September beta phase. This beta was then delayed when EA pushed the release date of Battlefield 2042 from October to November.

This contradicts the statement from EA where the company claims the Open Beta was a client release from a few months ago. The statement reads:

“Our Open Beta was branched from our Full Release client a few months ago, and polished and improved to provide a great snapshot of the full experience”

Tom Henderson says that the Battlefield 2042 beta was compiled on 20 September 2021. Just one day before the original dates. This also means that EA and DICE made no changes to the beta build at all. Even when the game was delayed and the beta pushed back.

Henderson says that this information matches up with what he has heard from the company over the past few months. In particular, the game’s rocky development. He says that EA and DICE haven’t been releasing new footage of the game because they can’t. It is another reason why the company skipped releasing a new trailer at Gamescom.

Most of the issues with the Battlefield 2042 development stem from management. According to sources at DICE, the infamous Battlefront II management system somehow found its way into Battlefield 2042. In addition, sources claim that management hasn’t committed to the project as much as they should have. Developers are simply told to do X,Y and Z and have to do it.

Battlefield 2042’s lack of creativity also comes from managment’s love for 2019’s Modern Warfare. Sources claim that the dev team at DICE were encouraged to create a similair experience to that of Activision’s shooter. This is why Battlefield 2042 now has a Modern Warfare-like operator system that has replaced the much-loved class system from the series. EA has also reportedly focused its marketing on Call of Duty streamers and content creators. This is a clear sign that management knows that Modern Warfare was a huge inspiration during the development of 2042.

Even though Battlefield 2042 is still a month away, DICE employees have started to talk amongst themselves about their job security at the studio. So far, there have been no layoffs at DICE but the repeat of Battlefield V has left many concerned about the launch of the upcoming game. It is especially concerning that EA claimed back in February this year Battlefield 2042 was “way ahead of schedule”. They then released the beta in that state.

We can only hope that Battlefield 2042 is good and releases in a stable, polished state. If it doesn’t there will no doubt be hell to play at EA. Battlefield 2042 releases on 19 November 2021 for PS4, PS5, Xbox and PC.

Source: GamingIntel