Battlefield 2042 is bringing back classes, but it's too little too late for some fans

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"What an absolute joke. People aren't going to be playing this after MW2 comes out come October"

Battlefield 2042
(Image credit: EA)

For the most part, Battlefield 2042 hasn't gone down well with fans, not least because of its new specialist system. Now DICE is seemingly attempting to rescue the troubled title by introducing some sweeping changes, most notably the return of classes.

In a video update, which you can see below, DICE laid out its plans for Battlefield 2042 for the upcoming months and beyond. In it, the developer describes the inclusion of specialists as "polarizing" and says that it now plans to implement these into the infinitely more popular class-based system, albeit not in the immediate future. "We have heard you," DICE says. "So in Season 3, we'll be moving specialists into the classic and familiar Battlefield class system. They'll have traits available to all specialists within a given class with existing open gadgets and throwables split between classes to fit their role."

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Battlefield fans are unsurprisingly questioning why it's taken the developer so long to realize that the specialist system wasn't a good fit for the shooter, and many are equally puzzled as to why, with Season 2 not yet underway, the class system won't be implemented until Season 3. "Wait? Season 3? I thought this was coming soon" one fan wrote on the Battlefield 2042 subreddit. "Skeleton crew," replied another in reference to claims that the number of people working on the game has dwindled, and development has already largely shifted to the next Battlefield game. 

only_took_them_almost_a_year_to_finally_realize from r/battlefield2042

Another Reddit user who's less than optimistic about the changes wrote, "They haven't brought back classes. They shoved the cartoonish specialists into 'classes' but this still isn't the Battlefield classes." A fan by the name of cheezecake2000 calls it a "Last ditch effort to maintain playerbase." Meanwhile, another Reddit user thinks that the changes DICE are making are too little and too late, especially considering the immense competition it'll be up against in a couple of months. "This is still 4 months away, over an entire year after launch," says aaronrodgersneedle. "What an absolute joke. People aren't going to be playing this after MW2 comes out come October."

Back in February, EA acknowledged Battlefield 2042's lacklustre launch and partially blamed the shooter's poor performance on Halo Infinite, which arrived just days before, on November 15, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Take a look at our best Battlefield games, and in case you were wondering, no, Battlefield 2042 didn't make the cut.

Anne-Marie Ostler
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.