Things seem to be getting worse by the day for Battlefield 2042. Following the news yesterday that EA is considering making Battlefield 2042’s Portal mode free-to-play, the game has now dropped out of the top 50 most played games on Xbox. The shocking revelation was first noticed on ResetEra. It’s not clear when the game first dropped out of the top 50. However, it does show the crisis that the recently released game is in.
In the US Xbox top 50, Battlefield 2042 doesn’t make an appearance while significantly older games do. Old games like Fallout 4, Black Ops III, and Gears 5 all appear on the top 50. In other countries, the game also doesn’t appear or is close to dropping off the list altogether. In Canada, Battlefield 2042 for Xbox Series X/S is 45th on the list. The Witcher 3 and The Sims 4 rank just above it. Star Wars Battlefront II, which was released in 2017 ranks just one place behind the latest Battlefield game.
It’s a disappointing turn of events for EA and Battlefield developer DICE, although one that many fans may not sympathize with. Battlefield 2042 has been widely criticized by fans of the series. So much so that the dedicated Battlefield 2042 subreddit was almost shut down. Discussion surrounding the game had become so toxic that the moderators said they would shut down the subreddit. Although that hasn’t happened, it shows the extent to which gamers are frustrated with the game and the developers.
As Battlefield 2042 continues its free-fall through the player rankings, EA is desperately trying to save the game. According to a recent report, the situation is so bad that there has been discussion at EA of the game not being salvageable. There’s also uncertainty at the company about whether making the game free-to-play would even attract players. Whatever EA decides to do, Battlefield 2042 may already be beyond repair.
