Open letter about RSP to Mr. Battlefield – Lars Gustavsson

Dear Mr. Gustavsson,

I’m writing this concerned about the future of the Battlefield series. I’m part of a true Battlefield fan community and am one of those players who has been playing Battlefield for decades. I felt the urge to speak up after reading about the latest communication regarding the Rental Server Program (RSP) in Battlefield V (BFV).

Battlefield V has been a controversial game. In public there has been discussion about the sales figures and how the sales didn’t meet the expectations. That has led into speculation of the motivation and dedication EA and/or DICE have to further develop the game that has been a financial disappointment.

I fully understand how business operates and the importance of profit in any business. If the profit margin on Battlefield V sales has been lower than expected it doesn’t necessarily mean that Battlefield V is a bad game. When a game releases, buyers have little experience about the game itself. Buying decision is based on community reactions and past experiences. I dare to claim, that the disappointing sales figures of BFV are impacted by decisions made on Battlefield 1 (BF1).

As I understand, BF1 was a big financial success. It was the successor for the highly appreciated Battlefield 4 (BF4). I think the success of BF1 was based on the success of BF4. DICE made some bold moves on BF1 and changed many core gameplay mechanics. It’s good to try something new and try to push the game franchise forward, but with big changes there is a risk of big failures.

Unfortunately, many of the new mechanics were not well received by the players. I played BF1 from the early release to the BFV release, but I watched many of my friends to drop out of the game. During the life span of BF1 most of my BF4 era friends quit playing BF1 altogether. Luckily, I made some new friends, so I could continue to play the game in a team, like I feel the game is intended to be played.

When BFV was announced many faithful Battlefield players hesitated buying the game. BF1 had been a disappointment, and there was a lot uncertainty about the new Battlefield V.

We have lately learned from Dan Mitriones’ reddit post that DICE is evaluating whether it will bring the Rental Server Program to the game at all. It is good that the topic is finally brought to the gaming community’s attention, but I think the approach Dan and DICE are taking is somewhat wrong.

I’m running a competitive Battlefield community. We play competitive Battlefield tournaments in the Battlefield Community League (BCL). BCL has over 7,000 registered accounts. We are competing in different game modes on different platforms and continents. I understand these players are just a fraction of the whole buying audience, but these are the players who keep on playing after the initial hype is over. They don’t just play the game, they are the ones posting videos, discussing in social media, streaming, and keeping the hype and visibility on your game for years.

It’s difficult to calculate exact ROI for the investment of developing the RSP platform, since the rental fees of the servers alone probably don’t cover the cost. But I would ask you to look at the bigger picture.

RSP has been in Battlefield for a very long time – it’s part of the Battlefield culture. While playing in a squad of friends on public servers is fun, I would say any Battlefield game reaches its true potential when teams play against each other in a clan war. We are constantly getting new players into competitive Battlefield, and most of them are thrilled at how intense and exciting competitive gaming can be. In many cases the enthusiasm is back on the game that was already almost forgotten.

If the Rental Server Program is not coming to Battlefield V it will be the final blow to the competitive scene. Even though Battlefield games haven’t ever had proper support for competitive gaming, the community has built it into the games through rented servers. If RSP is killed for BFV it will terminate the competitive scene totally.

If the competitive community dies it will not only turn thousands of players away from Battlefield V, but it would most likely have an impact on the next Battlefield sales figures. I’ve played Battlefield games for a long time, and it’s painful for me to watch my favorite game go down due to hasty decisions. I’m not saying that Battlefield will live or die depending on RSP, but the decisions made on Battlefield 1 started this downhill trend of Battlefield, and the decisions made now on Battlefield V will set the direction for the future of the whole franchise.

Jamppu_fi

Battlefield Community League