“We’re not chasing trends. We’re not chasing other products.”

That’s what Matthew Nickerson, the lead combat designer, said. Then season 1 drops, and suddenly there’s a cosmetics marketplace that’s a straight copy of CoD’s.

Here’s another one from the design director:
“It has to be grounded. I don’t think it needs Nicki Minaj. Let’s keep it real, keep it grounded.”

And yet, every other operator and vehicle skin now has neon streaks, with weapon camos straight from a laser-tag arena. The operator outfits and gun skins don’t even make sense - clashing colours, random gear, no cohesion at all. The ridiculous Miniscout skin comes with a flashlight… It’s like they were thrown together by AI. There’s no design direction, just volume. Pump out as much slop as possible and sell it to 14yr olds and Twitch streamers. 

What makes it worse is how much time they’ve clearly spent on the marketplace and its optimised micro-transaction arcade, instead of improving the UI, or adding bigger and better maps.

It’s also now blatantly pay to win. Some new guns, like the Miniscout, are even locked behind a MASSIVE BF Coin grind, that of course you can pay to skip. How much? Oh just more than the game itself. 

It’s genuinely disappointing. They made it sound like Battlefield was returning to its roots, ditching the trashy trends of modern shooters for immersion, realism, and solid gameplay. Instead, it’s clear they just wanted to pull triple-A fatigued people in with nostalgia, cash in, and reveal the truth later: “Surprise, it’s just CoD with vehicles.”

If you think that’s harsh, give it time. MW2 2019 started grounded too, then two seasons later we had cat-ear operators and anime rifles that meowed when you reloaded. They will 100% go down this route as they inevitably run out of ideas for skins. With all the incredible real-world gear and weapon finishes they could’ve drawn from, it’s baffling that they went this route.

So, they lied. I almost forgot it’s an EA game for a moment. So much for that I guess. I look forward to when I can play as the Cardi B Engineer for only £24.99. 

And the grand reveal: we were lied to all along. The game is just a pay-to-win marketplace for goofy skins and cosmetics.