Battlefield 2042 Has More Than 33,000 Negative Reviews On Steam

Battlefield 2042 has a "mostly negative" aggregate review score on Steam right now, with many calling out the DICE game for what they say is a lack of features and functionality, and its buggy nature.

Of the more than 44,000 reviews for Battlefield 2042 on Steam, about 33,000 are "negative" and about 11,000 are "positive." That is surely not the ratio that DICE and EA would have wanted.

Battlefield V and Battlefield 1 were received far more positively on Steam, with the games boasting aggregate review scores of "mostly positive" and "very positive," respectively.

Battlefield 2042 user reviews on Steam are criticizing the game for its lack of a single-player mode and for not having a leaderboard or server browser for the All-Out Warfare mode, among other things. "This game had so much potential to be good and EA failed. They did the opposite of what the community wanted," one person said.

Battlefield 2042 launched officially on November 19 following a week-long period of early access. Neither EA nor DICE have announced any sales or engagement numbers for the game. It launched during a busy time for FPS games, as Call of Duty: Vanguard released on November 5, with Halo Infinite's multiplayer beta arriving on November 15.

DICE is no stranger to releasing a high-profile game to a negative reaction. 2017's Star Wars: Battlefront II had loot boxes during its early access period, and they were swiftly and loudly criticized by fans, prompting DICE to remove the loot box system for launch. Today, the game has a Very Positive aggregate review score on Steam.

DICE has been regularly updating Battlefield 2042 since launch and it recently outlined some of the big changes and improvements coming in the future. Fans can expect ongoing support for a long time to come, as DICE leans further into the live-service space. The next Battlefield game might go even further and adopt a free-to-play model.

GameSpot's Battlefield 2042 review in progress scored the game an 8/10. "What's really impressive in Battlefield 2042 is the variety that's on offer. It lets you play a bunch of different kinds of FPS experiences--in different game modes, in different Portal rule sets, and even in the same match as you switch between characters," Phil Hornshaw said.