Summary
- Battlefield 6 could bring back the age-old rivalry between Call of Duty and Battlefield.
- Battlefield 6 may benefit from avoiding time-gated battle passes to keep players engaged.
- Long-lived battle passes could give Battlefield an edge over Call of Duty's live service efforts.
A little while ago, Call of Duty and Battlefield had a rivalry going between each franchise over who could “win” a particular year, and Battlefield 6 has a great chance to reignite that question again. Times have changed quite a bit since the two series went head-to-head quite so directly, but there are still features that might tempt a certain number of players to dedicate more time to one game over the other.
One of the big changes to this little rivalry was the rise of the live service content model as an industry standard. Each franchise pursued it in its own way, to varying success, as Warzone succeeded where Firestorm failed, but Battlefield 6 may be able to begin leveling the live service playing field between the two with one popular feature.
How Battlefield 6 Can Improve the Series' Spotting Mechanic
Spotting is one of the series’ most defining mechanics, but its interpretation in Battlefield 6 is an opportunity for positive change.
This Trick Could Give Battlefield 6 an Edge With Players Over Call of Duty
In the transition to live service models over the years, the two FPS franchises have reoriented their content delivery models. Battlefield 5 tried offering all its live content for free, but did not bring in enough money from cosmetics to justify a free battle pass returning in 2042, which adopted a more standard seasonal model. Call of Duty has been pursuing a seasonal model in Warzone ever since 2020, and it has remained a steady source of income for Activision ever since.
But battle passes have become more controversial in recent years, with many players remembering past installments where content was added through map packs that arguably offered more substantial updates. With so many live services on the market, a player’s time is at risk of being stretched too thin, and the strain of keeping up with multiple live services can be enough to see anyone pick one favorite and bow out of the rest.
Battlefield Needs Non-Expiring Battle Passes Like Helldivers 2
If Battlefield wants to regain some favor, then it needs to look to Helldivers. Arrowhead has had its share of controversies too, but its commitment from day one to make it so Helldivers 2’s Warbonds do not expire has given the studio plenty of goodwill. There is strong sentiment in the Helldivers community that the game is made more fun and accessible because it lacks the FOMO of expiring battle passes, a feature that has frustrated many people who were unable to claim the last few tiers of a pass before a seasonal reset.
The goodwill from not time-gating a battle pass would be beneficial to Battlefield 6 in another aspect. The studio’s two most recent Battlefield games, BF5 and 2042, launched to plenty of fan backlash, and though each game eventually recovered from it, DICE could do with making players happy right from the start. FOMO causes a lot of frustration, and a Battlefield game that does not rely on it would be a promising gesture to a community that has felt burned on more than one occasion.
Battlefield Can Survive Without a Demanding Live Service Model
Battlefield has proven to be a resilient series more generally, because despite the lack of updates, many older titles in the series boast high player numbers today, sometimes for games that are over a decade old. This is a clear signal to DICE that the series does not need to be driven by the stick of keeping up with fresh content drops; the carrot of simple, fun, engaging gameplay is enough for players to stick with the game, even years after the developer has moved on.
Battlefield 2042
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 65 /100 Critics Rec: 32%
- Released
- November 19, 2021
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- DICE, Criterion Games, Ripple Effect
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Frostbite
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
