This weekend, Battlefield 2042 is putting on a welcoming free-to-play weekend, with a sizeable portion of the game being made available to all comers. Since it went live, the free-to-play weekend has produced dramatic results, and on some platforms, the player count is almost higher than it has ever been before. Bizarrely, these near-record-high player numbers are where they are despite the open beta for Modern Warfare 3 being live as we speak.

For the longest time, Battlefield 2042 was considered a write-off. It was abandoned by even the most dedicated Battlefield fans thanks to its underwhelming and disappointing 2021 launch. However, since then, Electronic Arts’ DICE team has worked tenaciously at finessing the product, and what exists today is a far cry from the game that everyone picked up at launch. That’s being represented right now by the soaring peak player count that has come around as a result of the free-to-play weekend.

Is Battlefield 2042 Better Than Ever?

Battlefield 2042 isn’t exactly a rags-to-riches story – but it has seen a tangible turnaround in recent months. It stood as a shell of a game when it was released in 2021, missing many features that were considered a staple of the Battlefield franchise up until that point. It wasn’t a joy to play, and before long the player base started abandoning it. It was almost shelved, but following a few updates, the game progressively got better.

Today, it’s a very different landscape, and since those early, beleaguered months, the game has come on in leaps and bounds.

That’s very clearly represented by the surge of players that have flooded the game throughout this weekend. On Steam, the peak player count in the last twenty-four hours (at the time of writing) sits at around 82,000. For reference, the all-time high peak player count on that platform is just over 100,000. It’s tougher to get player numbers on other platforms, but as this is an ecosystem-wide event, it’s assumed that similar trends are occurring on PlayStation and Xbox.

Related: What Happened to Battlefield Mobile?

But What Happens Now?

It isn’t yet known what’s happening with the long-term future of Battlefield. There have been suggestions and claims made that point to the next game – perhaps Battlefield 6 – as being a ‘total reimagination’ of the franchise thus far. It could be a total reboot with a new engine, a brand-new sense of direction, and all-new elements. There are hopes among the community that it’ll be similar to something like Battlefield 3 or Battlefield 4, which are often referred to as the best Battlefield games ever.

In the short term, there’s a tasty sale right now that is seeing Battlefield 2042 sit at a lower price point than ever before. It’s also readily available on the EA Play service that’s available on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation platforms. So, out of those tens of thousands of players who are enjoying Battlefield 2042 for free right now, a fair portion of them may snap up the full game and just keep on playing.

Are you still playing Battlefield 2042?

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