The Real Reason EA Is Blaming Halo Infinite For Battlefield 2042 Reception
Fans of "Battlefield 2042" have a long list of complaints and issues with the game, including many that explain why it hasn't seen the success EA might have hoped for. EA, however, seems to think something else is at fault for the failure of "Battlefield 2042." In a report from XFire by insider Tom Henderson, it was revealed that internally at EA the executives are blaming the surprise launch of the "Halo Infinite" multiplayer for the failure of "Battlefield 2042." During an internal town hall meeting, Laura Miele, EA's Chief Studios Officer, said that "Halo Infinite" dropping its multiplayer near the launch of "Battlefield 2042" made the game look bad. She also noted that "Halo Infinite," even with its own issues, was far more polished than "Battlefield 2042."
EA didn't exclusively blame everything that went wrong with "Battlefield 2042" on "Halo Infinite," but even the small reference surprised some fans. EA confirmed in its financial report that "Battlefield 2042" didn't meet expectations, and it makes some sense that the juxtaposition of the surprise "Halo" launch could correlate to the disappointing performance. The "Halo Infinite" multiplayer released on Nov. 15, four days before the full release of "Battlefield 2042." While EA might be looking for a scapegoat, fans of "Battlefield" who aren't happy with "Battlefield 2042" won't let it shift blame.
Fans react to EA blaming Halo Infinite
One of the top posts on the "Battlefield" subreddit right now is a meme of Eric Andre shooting Hannibal Buress. The meme shows EA shooting "Battlefield" and then asking why "Halo Infinite" would do this. While the meme itself seems light-hearted, the comments on the post are taking EA and Dice to task. One user wrote, "Until they acknowledge their major design flaws in 2042 I won't have faith in future releases. Shame because 2042 was the first one I didn't buy since bf3."
The comments on another nearly identical post brought up other issues with EA's comments about "Halo Infinite." One user wrote, "How dare they make a better game! This is setting up brutal expectations for dice, which is very toxic." During the internal town hall, EA also stated that it believes player feedback from the initial playtest was good. EA blamed poor Steam reviews on PC players being unhappy about capped performances.
Regardless of whether EA takes responsibility for the performance of "Battlefield 2042" or not, players are showing their displeasure in droves. Players have started a petition to get refunds, so it seems unlikely that the fan base will be happy with "Battlefield 2042" anytime soon.