Last week, it was announced that the most disappointing entry to the Battlefield franchise, Battlefield 2042, would be getting its first live-service event. As a number of bug fixes and improvements have been made over the past few months, fans wondered if this was finally the addition that would make the title worth returning to after its horrid release late last year. Titled The Liquidators, the event would introduce a new version of the game’s Conquest mode, inviting players to take part in close-quarters squad-based combat. Set to go live today until October 25, DICE was forced to turn the event off less than one hour after it began due to some serious bugs. We know, shocking.
According to the Battlefield Direct Communication Twitter account, the event was taken offline due to rewards and progress not tracking properly. Players have been unable to unlock rewards, and an additional bug has made it impossible for players to equip the gear and weapons that are being shown as unlocked.
In a follow-up Tweet, the team stated that the issues are still being worked on, with the goal to reopen the event later today. More updates will likely follow.
Battlefield 2042 has had a rough first year on the market. The game’s first season was delayed, only being released in June–seven months after the title launched. It’s difficult to pinpoint which aspect of the game has had players the angriest. Whether you point to the lack of a scoreboard at launch or the sheer amount of bugs, things continue to trend downward for the EA DICE title.
In February, David Goldfarb, a lead designer and writer on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 shared his thoughts about 2042 on Twitter. It’s worth sharing his sentiments yet again, given that this feels like the thousandth hiccup in the game’s brief lifespan.
“I have some questions about that product,” Goldfarb began. “Really trying to understand why some of these design calls were made. Why are there no smaller infantry maps? Why was 128 player count a thing that didn’t seemingly have any accommodation for infantry? Why are whole maps shipping without any details art?
Was no one in control of quality over there? Who thought this experience honored the BF sandbox experience and took it forward? I’m astonished that there were this many missteps even knowing the obstacles from higher up. For all my friends and colleagues over there – ugh.”
Battlefield 2042 was first released on November 19, 2021. The title is currently available to play on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. In September, the 2.1 Update brought a massive number of bug fixes and improvements to the title. Sadly, no matter what alterations are made, we have the feeling that the title won’t be able to keep up with the ever-shifting FPS landscape.
