EA refutes new report claiming Battlefield 2042 development now in ‘abandon ship’ mode
EA has responded to a new report that its beleaguered shooter Battlefield 2042 has now entered ‘abandon ship’ mode, insisting claims only a skeleton crew is left working on the game are “untrue”.
Word that Battlefield 2042’s post-launch development has been dramatically downscaled was first shared by journalist Jeff Grubb on his Grubbsnax Giant Bomb show, where he claimed the remaining team has been tasked with delivering the four seasons of live service content promised to purchasers the “fastest and the cheapest it possibly can”.
“This game is basically down to a skeleton crew,” Grubb told viewers (thanks VGC). “It’s down to like the bare bones and those people are specifically just working on the promised additional seasons that the game needs to meet the requirements of the high-end version that it sold.”
Describing the situation as “abandon ship time”, Grubb said the remaining team is “working to pump that stuff out the fastest and the cheapest it possibly can” so that “everyone [can be moved] to the new Battlefield as fast as possible…The real core crew of Battlefield developers are already working on that.”
Responding to Grubb’s claims in a statement provided to Eurogamer, EA called the report “untrue”, insisting, “There is a significant team at DICE, alongside our other studios, focused on evolving and improving the Battlefield 2042 experience for all players.”
Battlefield 2042 was, of course, poorly received when it launched last November – quickly becoming one of Steam’s worst-reviewed games of all time – and since then, DICE has committed to bringing this latest series instalment “up to the highest standards that we all hold for the franchise”.
Progress has been slow, however, with the game’s first season of post-launch content having only just received a 9th June release date after considerable delays. But even its imminent arrival is unlikely to do much to turn the game’s fortunes around, with Eurogamer’s Martin Robinson remarking, “It’s just enough to give Battlefield 2042 a fresh lease of life, but quite not enough to counter any thoughts that EA and DICE has already effectively moved on” in his recent preview.
