To directly answer the question – yes, Battlefield 2042 is currently free-to-play if you download the base game on Steam. EA made BF2042 free-to-play back in August 2022 to try to revive interest and rebuild the player base after its disastrous launch in November 2021.
Let me walk you through the full story on BF2042‘s downfall at launch, whether it has improved enough since then, and details on the current free access promotion.
What Happened with Battlefield 2042‘s Botched Launch?
As a fan of the series going back to Battlefield 3 and Bad Company, I was extremely excited for Battlefield 2042 leading up to its release in November 2021. The franchise is renowned for its massive maps, vehicular warfare, and ‘only in Battlefield‘ moments.
But when BF2042 launched after multiple delays, it became clear the game was in very rough shape:
Terrible optimization – My RTX 3080 could barely hit 60 fps on high settings at 1440p. Many players with solid PCs reported similar performance problems.
Glitches galore – Clipping through the map, broken animations, floating objects, and weird visual bugs. Frequent crashing to desktop errors too.
Missing features – Simple things like a scoreboard were oddly absent. The UI and certain systems felt unfinished.
Awful balancing – Certain specialists and vehicles felt gamebreakingly overpowered. SMGs ruled at all ranges.
Uninspired map design – Huge areas with little cover or destroyed buildings to take advantage of. Just a slog.
Identity crisis – The new heroes didn‘t fit Battlefield. Felt like a battle royale knockoff.
This resulted in overwhelmingly negative reception at launch:
- User score of 2.7 on Metacritic
- 33,000 negative Steam reviews in the first month
- 0% recommend rating on Steam at one point
- Tons of refund requests and player drop-off
One analyst described it as "the worst reviewed game of the year". What went so wrong for what should have been a big hit?
EA‘s Live Service Woes
EA was clearly hoping to evolve the Battlefield series into a live service game more akin to Call of Duty with yearly releases and seasonal battle passes. But transitioning an established franchise into that model comes with major risks.
Looking across the industry, many major studios have struggled to adapt beloved series to the "games as a service" model:
- Halo Infinite – Multiple directors left during development, launched without co-op or Forge modes
- Fallout 76 – Launched completely broken and unfinished, terrible PR response
- Anthem – Storyline changed mid-development, EA eventually abandoned it
- eFootball – Konami‘s FIFA competitor was a buggy disaster on release
Battlefield 2042 seems to be another cautionary tale. Reports emerged of development issues and studio troubles. Key developers left DICE during production. Design choices seemingly changed last minute.
EA‘s pressure to monetize the franchise year-round likely led to this installment launching well before it was ready. They paid the price in lost sales and disillusioned fans.
Analyzing Battlefield 2042‘s Monetization Approach
Looking at Battlefield 2042‘s in-game monetization system provides some useful context as well:
- Paid season passes encouraging grinding
- Battle passes with premium skins and cosmetics
- Weekly challenges tied to specific specialists
- Only 2 new maps in Year 1 for free players
- Most new weapons locked behind premium battle pass
This type of monetization can frustrate when the core game feels unfinished. Players don‘t want to spend more on cosmetics when features are missing.
Ultimately the game only sold an estimated 4.23 million copies in 2021 according to market analysts. That‘s far below Battlefield 1‘s 15 million copies sold and a fraction of Call of Duty‘s numbers.
Poor post-launch monetization just compounded the game‘s issues. Addressing fundamentals like gameplay and stability was a higher priority for retaining players than purchases.
The Challenges of Hero Shooters
Battlefield 2042‘s approach of offering Specialists with unique abilities signaled an attempt to tap into the popular hero shooter genre. Games like Overwatch and Apex Legends built dedicated followings around their unique character-based combat.
But shoehorning heroes into theestablished Battlefield formula was a mistake. The freedom of building your own class was lost. The gritty militaristic tone clashed with quippy characters. Ultimately Battlefield‘s selling point has always been large-scale combined arms warfare.
Apex Legends and other successful hero shooters were designed from the ground up around those characters. Slapping heroes into Battlefield felt like a ploy to allow monetizing their appearance with skins.
This identity crisis just created further disconnect between what players wanted from a new Battlefield game versus the direction EA/DICE tried taking it.
Is Redemption Possible for Battlefield 2042?
The brand damage certainly appears severe based on player sentiment online:
- Massively popular Battlefield subreddit remained filled with complaints
- Some fans started petitions to get refunds months after launch
- Much of YouTube commentary still skewers the game‘s state
- Steam reviews still sit at "Mostly Negative" overall
But there are precedents of live service titles that recovered after horrible launches:
- No Man‘s Sky – Rebuilt trust through major free content updates
- Final Fantasy XIV – Entirely rebooted the MMORPG to critical acclaim
- Sea of Thieves – Added tons of content and features over time
- Star Wars Battlefront 2 – Removed pay-to-win elements at community‘s request
The difference is those studios put their heads down and focused on the work rather than making excuses. DICE will need that kind of long-term commitment to start rebuilding Battlefield‘s reputation.
There are promising signs like 4.0 hitting over 100k concurrent players on Steam after going free-to-play. But those numbers can‘t dip right back down for it to be considered a true revival.
Only time will tell, but EA and DICE are clearly not ready to abandon Battlefield 2042 yet.
Giving BF2042 a Second Chance
As someone who put hundreds of hours into the previous Battlefields, part of me remains extremely disappointed with how 2042 turned out. It lacks the heart, polish, and care for the franchise that made those earlier games special.
However, 2042 has come a long way since its dismal launch state:
- The Seasons introduced some decent new maps
- Performance and stability is much better
- They finally added a proper scoreboard
- Gunplay feels improved with less random spread
- Movement and traversal handles better now
- The Plus class system helps teamplay tremendously
I‘d say 2042 is now firmly in "average" territory as a shooter after the improvements. A far cry from the disaster it once was.
The shift to free-to-play makes it easy to give 2042 a second chance yourself and form your own opinion. Don‘t go in expecting a revolutionary Battlefield title. But you may find some mindless large-scale FPS fun now that the kinks are ironed out.
Hopefully you found this breakdown of BF2042‘s fall and current status helpful! I‘m planning to jump back in myself soon to see how it handles after nearly a year. DICE may turn this around yet, but the road to redemption remains long.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
