Battlefield 2042 reportedly in “trouble” after trying to copy Modern Warfare

Battlefield 2042’s three-year development cycle has reportedly been troublesome as new reports suggest management at DICE sought to copy much of the blueprint 2019’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare laid out.

With BF 2042’s Beta behind us, thousands of players have now had their first hands-on session with the future of EA’s immensely popular FPS franchise.

While this public test had its fair share of bugs, design flaws, missing features, and optimization issues, developers at DICE assured the build was “months old.”

Although these comments intended to alleviate some concern, new reports indicate they simply aren’t true.

The controversial Beta build was in fact from “early-mid September,” an anonymous source told industry insider Tom Henderson in a report for GamingIntel.

Electronic Arts

Battlefield 2042’s Beta instilled a sense of concern in the BF community.

What was the main reason behind this sloppy showcase and the questionable stage of BF 2042 this close to launch? Problematic management is allegedly at the core of it all, as leadership figures at DICE sought to copy elements from Activision’s wildly successful Modern Warfare release in 2019.

“Many of the game’s problems have stemmed from management,” sources disclosed to Henderson.

Not only are these leaders supposedly “not committed to the project,” but they also appear to have ignored glaring issues throughout 2042’s development.

Rather than striving to iterate on the beloved BF formula, management instead wanted to replicate Call of Duty’s more recent success.

“Management loved some of Modern Warfare 2019’s aspects that much, that the studio was supposedly encouraged to create something similar.”

One specific feature developers were made to copy over was Modern Warfare’s Operators, according to the anonymous employee at DICE. This contentious move wiped away BF’s trademark class system in favor of new Specialists.

• Read More: Every Battlefield 2042 map & mode

With a new seasonal structure to boot, existing Specialists will obviously receive their own cosmetics. On top of that, new Specialists will be introduced in future seasons.

This would “incentivize purchases,” akin to Modern Warfare’s roadmap.

Activision

Modern Warfare’s Operators were supposedly a heavy influence on BF 2042’s Specialists.

It’s unclear what else was heavily inspired by the 2019 CoD release. However, after playing the Beta, it became clear that it was the least “BF feeling BF” in quite some time.

• Read More: Battlefield 2042 Beta swarmed by cheaters

With just five weeks to go before 2042’s November 19 release, the clock is ticking.