DICE’s disastrous Battlefield entry that became cautionary tale. Revealed June 9, 2021 (“Only in Battlefield” trailer hype), launched November 19, 2021, became one of worst-reviewed BF games ever.
Launch Disaster
No campaign, broken specialist system (replaced classes), 128-player maps too empty, bugs everywhere, missing features (scoreboard, voice chat). Steam concurrent players dropped from 100K to 2K in months. 67/100 Metacritic.
”Love Letter to Fans”
Developers called it “love letter to fans” pre-launch. Community called it “unfinished.” $70-120 price tags (Gold/Ultimate editions) drew fury. Refund requests flooded. EA apologized, delayed Season 1 content 6+ months.
Attempted Revival
Season 1 (June 2022) added scoreboard, class adjustments. Free-to-play rumors. However, damage done—player count never recovered. The hashtag evolved from hype to mockery (“ahead of schedule” meme).