We were all disheartened to learn that Battlefield 2042’s delay means it’s now a month further away, but it’s not all doom and gloom.
Video game delays are tricky to approach. On the one hand, development teams need as much time as possible to finish and polish a game without overworking themselves. On the other hand, we’ve seen games released in a poor state, despite several delays – looking at you, Cyberpunk.
There can be plenty of reasons for a game’s troubled development, or for a release date becoming a moving goal post. When DICE announced that it was delaying Battlefield 2042 by a month, it said: ‘Building the next generation of Battlefield during a global pandemic has created unforeseen challenges for our development teams.
‘Given the scale and scope of the game, we had hoped our teams would be back in our studios together as we move towards launch.’
Sadly, the development team has not yet been able to return to working in an office environment. As such, the team are finding it much more difficult to get the game into a releasable state than normal.
Should we be worried?
Thankfully, a Senior Developer at DICE has shed more light on the situation. Nathalie Ek, a Senior UX Designer on the Battlefield franchise, says that the challenges of releasing a game from home is far different from just developing a game from home.
‘Developing a game from home was easier than I expected. Releasing a game from home was a lot harder!,’Ek says on Twitter. ‘Not being able to feel that “let’s get sh*t done” atmosphere you get at the office is tough & makes it a lot harder both personally & as a team.’
Another developer at DICE, Jim Hejl, also wants to put fans’ minds at ease. They clarify that Battlefield 2042 ‘isn’t a project in trouble’ and that it ‘just needs a little longer on spin cycle’.
Hey, I really appreciate all the support from the community regarding the new 2042 dates. It feels good that you trust us.
— Jim Hejl (@jimhejl) September 17, 2021
And you should. It’s a solid game. This isn’t my first rodeo. It’s not a project in trouble. It just needs a little longer on spin cycle.
Have faith fam pic.twitter.com/CkPwoles8q
What have we seen so far?
Of what little gameplay we’ve seen so far, the game is shaping up well. Short teaser trailers have revealed glimpses of grapple hook and medic gameplay. Meanwhile, the gunplay is reminiscent of Battlefield 3 and 4 with a fast-firing and punchy weapon model. An open beta should arrive soon, though official dates aren’t confirmed yet.
Battlefield 2042 was due to release on October 22nd, but is now rescheduled to launch on November 19th instead. This puts it two weeks behind Call of Duty: Vanguard, which will release November 5th.
Are you worried about Battlefield 2042 getting delayed? Let us know your thoughts across our social channels.
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[Featured Image Credit: EA/DICE]