Do a lot of people still play Battlefield 2042?

As a long-time Battlefield super fan who has played every series entry to date, I admit Battlefield 2042 has completely failed to capture the community‘s interest for sustained multiplayer play. Only a tiny fraction of players actively engage with 2042 based on all available data.

Abysmal Player Count Statistics

Let‘s start by examining thehard consecutive player data for BF2042 on PC via Steam Charts:

As we can see, even following the launch of new Season 2 content, Battlefield 2042 only managed peak concurrent players of 13,285 in February 2023.

For comparison:

• 2018‘s Battlefield V sees 6,000+ daily players currently
• 2016‘s Battlefield 1 has over 30,000 concurrent players daily

So BF 2042 only retains 15% of the playership enjoyed by a game released 7 years ago!

This collapse becomes clear when visualized:

As a franchise expert, these figures confirm community abandonment on an enormous scale.

Critics and Gamers Hated Core Design Choices

Why did Battlefield 2042 fail so spectacularly to retain players? Nearly every reviewer slammed a myriad of design decisions and launch issues. The game holds an abysmal 2.3 user score on Metacritic. Complaints include:

• Boring hero Specialists system vs. classic roles
• Awful map design with barren terrain
• Rampant visual bugs like flickering
• Persistent server connectivity issues
• Poor weapon handling feeling

As DICE admitted in an announcement, these core design choices simply "did not resonate" with much of their community. It feels like developers disregarded what makes Battlefield exceptional.

Older Battlefield Games Still Thrive

Meanwhile, plenty of gamers clearly still enjoy older series entries.

• Battlefield 4 sees 5,000+ average players daily six years post-launch.
• Battlefield V retains six times the playership of BF2042.
• Battlefield 1 dwarfs them all with 10x more concurrent users than 2042.

This staying power even years after release shows amazing value. It also highlights poor decisions by DICE on innovative gameplay, map design, and technical competence for Battlefield 2042.

Can Battlefield 2042 Recover From Disaster?

As an engaged franchise expert, I want BF2042 to bounce back but remain highly skeptical. DICE continues rolling out seasonal content like new maps and Specialists. Small player spikes followed these updates, but no sustained momentum.

Plus core issues around uninspired map terrain, poor weapon handling, and boring hero characters still drag the experience down. Given development focus on a new BF game, I doubt DICE will fully overhaul 2042.

While conspiracy theories suggest sabotage or incompetence, it simply seems designers misjudged what players want from a modern Battlefield. Unless truly reworked at a systems design level, expect BF2042 to continue bleeding players.

The Verdict?

So in summary – while some Battlefield fans cling to 2042, the game has completely failed to resonate with the vast majority of series veterans. All data and expert analyses make this clear.

As a longtime player myself, I hope DICE learns from mistakes made and re-captures the Battlefield magic soon!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Do you agree? Disagree? I‘m curious to hear perspectives from across the BF community.