The Battlefield V Dilemma

I sometimes wonder if publishers want me to buy their games. I seem to recall a time when I didn’t need a bloody spreadsheet to work out exactly what content I’m paying for. Ubisoft are by far the worst when it comes to confusing release editions. Any interest I had in the latest Assassin’s Creed rapidly faded when I saw the eight different editions, each with varying levels of content.

EA isn’t quite as bad as far as multiple editions go, but they’re still not making Battlefield V an attractive purchase. I enjoyed the BETA a lot, which is why I’m considering buying the game, but they’re not making it easy for me. You have the Standard and Deluxe editions which is to be expected, but I dislike the ‘early access’ offered with the Deluxe – you can play five days ‘early’.

But it’s not really ‘early’, is it? You’re simply paying more to play at release, and if you pay less, then you’re playing late which, in a game with objectively advantageous weapon upgrades, will put you at a distinct disadvantage. This is bad enough, but then I saw the ‘Premier Access’ edition, which is part of a new Origin subscription service.

It actually seems like pretty good value, but in order to entice players to join the service, EA is allowing Premier accounts to play BFV eleven days ‘early’. ELEVEN DAYS. That’s a f**king joke. If the game is ready to be released on that day, then it’s ready to be released for everyone, regardless of which edition they purchased. Imagine you couldn’t afford or didn’t want to pay extra – now you have to sit and watch for eleven days as other people play and enjoy the game.

Talk about a big ‘f**k you!’ to your own customers. I’ve seen people refer to the ‘Standard’ edition now as the ‘Pleb Edition’ because it appears that’s how EA views those who purchase it – ‘F**k those guys, they can wait’. I don’t have an issue with the subscription model, or with the Deluxe edition – at least it’s only one, as compared to eight – but the ‘pay to play early’ model is absolute bullshit.

And that’s not my only problem with BFV. As I said in my BETA Impressions post, I have concerns about future support for the game. They’ve released a ‘road map’ of sorts, but it’s very basic and only includes content that was already confirmed – a handful of new maps set in Greece, vehicle customisation (who really gives a f**k?) and the ‘Firestorm’ Battle Royale mode. They promise ‘more content’ beyond this, but give no details.

As I said, I don’t expect specifics so far in advance, but a simple ‘yes, we’re going to add in new factions like the U.S’ would be far more reassuring. If I knew for certain there would be an ‘Eastern Front’ expansion or a ‘Pacific’ expansion in the future – even if I didn’t know what would be included or when – at least I would know it was coming. As it stands, there’s still no guarantees for any substantial content beyond Firestorm in March 2019. The ‘more content’ they refer to could just as easily mean a handful of weapon and vehicle skins.

It just doesn’t strike me as a confident ‘live service’ plan. It’s like they’re hedging their bets – if the game doesn’t sell as well as EA expects, they can easily reduce/cut future content updates and nobody can really complain because nothing was actually promised. As a potential customer, it’s just not reassuring.

And really . . . what’s my incentive to buy at release – or ‘early’, if I pay more? When the base game is looking so sparse, why shouldn’t I wait a few months for the inevitable discount and pay less for more. I know people may argue that this applies to every game these days, but it’s really a question of value. When I look at the base release of BFV, do I feel that I’m getting good bang for my buck? Ignoring all the other problems, that’s the real dilemma. Even if I don’t like the ‘early access’ bullshit, or I’m worried about future support, if I felt the release game had the content to justify the purchase on Day 1 – or Day 11, if you’re a pleb – then I’d be more happy about picking it up.

The problem is, EA haven’t convinced me. They’re still being cagey about release day content, probably because they know it’s not very substantial. I mean hell, we’re only a few weeks from release and, at the time of writing, I’ve still not seen anything of the character customisation yet. Let me remind you, EA – I enjoyed the BETA a lot. I’d still like to BUY YOUR GAME. STOP MAKING IT SO BLOODY DIFFICULT.