Battlefield 2042 Fan Petition Is Blowing Up Following Outrage
Battlefield fans are not happy.
This article is more than 2 years old
One of the biggest frustrations in the gaming industry right now is developers releasing games for full price that are unfinished. One of the most infamous examples is 2020’s Cyberpunk 2077 which came riddled with bugs and didn’t look anything like what fans expected from trailers and gameplay videos. It was bad enough that Sony took the game off the PlayStation store and many platforms offered refunds. Battlefield 2042, developed by EA and DICE, is the latest game to experience this level of outrage from gamers and now a petition for refunds is blowing up.
On Change.org, there is a petition open for anyone to sign that demands a refund for Battlefield 2042 on all platforms. At the time of this writing, the petition already has amassed nearly 85,000 signatures. If it manages to reach 150,000 signatures, it will become one of the most signed petitions on Change.org. The creator of the petition, Satoshi Nakamoto (presumably not that Satoshi Nakamoto), mentions how the game was released in an unplayable state for $70. Steam is already offering refunds for the game due to the bugs that make it an unfinished experience. There are older versions of the Battlefield franchise that are running better than Battlefield 2042, so there really isn’t a good excuse for EA and Dice here.
According to the petition, if it reaches 50,000 signatures (which it already has) a top class-action lawsuit lawyer will take the case against EA. While a petition would likely not be enough to pressure these studios to give people their money back, maybe a lawsuit will. Battlefield 2042 also underperformed in sales and has horrible reviews on almost every platform. Taking a quick look at the Steam reviews will reveal that only 30% of reviewers had positive reactions to the game.
The case of Battlefield 2042 is especially egregious when you consider that many other games of its ilk are free-to-play. The Call of Duty franchise is huge, but you can play Call of Duty: Warzone for free. The Halo Infinite multiplayer is free-to-play. Battlefield 2042 currently isn’t free in any way, yet it doesn’t work nearly as well as these other games do. It’s understandable that consumers are frustrated.
This ongoing problem of developers releasing games in an unfinished state is something that will be difficult to curb. Battlefield 2042 likely won’t be the last example of this happening as long as people keep pre-ordering games and buying them on release from companies that overpromise and underdeliver. Typically, these devs are content to collect the money and then fix the bugs later. However, with controversies and fan pushback for refunds, maybe these developers will finally take notice and try to avoid getting this kind of blowback in the future.
In the case of Battlefield 2042, if you’ve bought the game and want a refund, you might have to wait and see if there’s any traction with this petition. It may be in a playable state in the near future, but for now, it looks like it’s best to save your money and come back another time.
