Electronic Arts and DICE are extremely delighted at the moment because of the huge success Battlefield 1 open beta witnessed last week.
The game still in its early stages managed to attract more than 13 million players at once. That’s such a huge number and it allowed DICE to stress test their servers on PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 platforms. Call of Duty Infinite Warfare which is a direct competitor for Battlefield 1 is being bombarded with negative comments because of going too futuristic. But, the big question, will beta gamers actually buy the game on launch?
EA has a name for splitting their games into multiple parts, known as DLCs. When you buy Battlefield 3 or Battlefield 4, it was never the full game. There will be just ten maps to play with while twenty others will be available only if you pay $60 or more. A similar scenario is going to happen with Battlefield 1. Not to forget the fact that the last military shooter from DICE had the most number of bugs but was eventually ironed out to become one of the most beloved shooters in recent times.
Battlefield Hardline and Star Wars Battlefront never witnessed the level of success that EA or DICE expected. Hardline is literally dead by now and those who purchased the base game or its multiple expansion packs would regret their decision at this point. We hardly know what happens to Battlefield 1 after launch. There are reviews to be read, bugs to be fixed and many more steps to go.
World War I is truly fascinating setup which lured a lot of gamers to check out the open beta. The huge numbers, 13 million players to be precise is something Electronic Arts have never witnessed in their beta history. It truly is a great start for Battlefield 1 that is sure to go places but there is no guarantee that the success witnessed by the developers will convert into actual sales.
If they are keen on increasing the pre-orders they receive, DICE and EA should probably start fixing bugs before the game launches and give more value for money by offering choice of maps in the base game. DLCs or expansion packs should further expand the experience but not split it into something smaller so that they could make more cash. Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty Infinite Warfare is going head to head this holiday season.