TheBattlefieldfranchise by DICE and EA Games has been around for over 20 years. With a new title released every couple of years, it can be hard for some to have kept up with every iteration of the franchise.
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There is a reason there have been so many games produced. Battlefield games are popular in a lot of the gaming world, and there is usually a Battlefield mode that can entice a large section of gamers. How high does your favorite Battlefield game rank on this list of the best?
17Battlefield Play4Free
The third time would not be the charm for the franchise to perfect their attempt at a Free-to-Play model. Launched in April 2011, this Battlefield game closed its doors in July 2015. Not the shortest-lived of the set, but still not a good look overall with trying out something that was working for some of their competitors. It also had low scores when reviewed, never quite hitting a 70% rating.
16Battlefield: Online
Probably one of the shortest releases of any Battlefield game to date. The game was Free to Play and had an open Beta starting in March 2010. This game had closed down all servers by May 2013 – that’s just over 3 years, and despite being able to host 100-player lobbies, they were rarely at capacity even at the game’s peak popularity. However, by the time the servers were taken offline, less than a couple dozen people could be found playing across all lobbies in the game.
15Battlefield 1943
Battlefield 1943was a console-exclusive launch that debuted in 2009. There were plans to bring this particular Battlefield game to PC users, but those were eventually scrapped with the advent of other Battlefield games in production. Still, this Battlefield did well in its section of the world and sold over 1.5 million copies in the first year of its life between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sales. Not a bad look for a console-exclusive launch of a game more popular on PC.
14Battlefield: Hardline
WhenBattlefield: Hardlinewas launched in 2015, it came out on more platforms (on the initial release) than any previous Battlefield game. PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox 360 and One, and PC. That’s 5 different ways to play. It featured team play and stealth play which left the producers with extremely high hopes for this title. But, the game had mixed reviews from the jump. It never fully gained traction; not even with DLC improvements down the line.
13Battlefield 2042
Battlefield 2042didn’t perform as well as some had hoped, and a large portion of this was blamed on the remote work required at the time of development leading to a significant amount of bugs. And it came with a lot of them.
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Battlefield 2042’s launch in 2021 still saw hundreds of thousands logging on to play. Those numbers have dropped significantly since then – not a horrible drop, but a steep decline from the initial release numbers. There have been improvements to the original issues, but that seems to have come too late for this title.
12Battlefield 2142
This futuristic Battlefield game came out in 2007. Set in 2142, Battlefield 2142 takes place exactly 200 years after the setting of the first Battlefield game. Unlike previous titles in the franchise, Battlefield 2142 only received a Silver award for sales, and that is because the numbers ran lower than expected. This seems to be largely due to complaints about bugs at the time of release that weren’t addressed until 2008.
11Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat brought in console players that may not have had an opportunity to play the games on PC, and was released in the F1111all of 2005. It was very popular for a console game, but it had a lot of other console-exclusive titles to compete with that were launched in the same timeframe. Still, this cemented Battlefield into the world of consoles and began growing the already popular title even further. Now, it is expected to have the latest Battlefield release on console as well as PC, and gamers can thank this title.
10Battlefield 2
This title is the sequel to Battlefield Vietnam and would become the blueprint for Battlefield games going forward – for the most part. Online capabilities took hold firmly in this title, and gamers would show that the franchise was truly here to stay. Within the first 2 months of release, Battlefield 2 had sold more than 2 million copies in 2005. That may seem like a small number by today’s standards, but these days gaming is more accessible than back in 2005. It’s also still one of the most talked about games in terms of nostalgia.
9Battlefield 1
Don’t confuseBattlefield 1with the original Battlefield game –Battlefield 1942. They are different games, and knowing that when talking with a Battlefield veteran is ideal. Battlefield 1 arrived onto the gaming scene in 2016, a full 14 years after the first game. It outsold both Battlefield 4 and Battlefield: Hardline combined during the week it was released, but it fell short of the projected sales. Despite falling short of projections, the game was well-loved by fans and enjoyed several popular DLC installments.
Published in 2008 for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it received great reviews from critics and fans alike. However, this title made no waves in sales and never made it onto any list for even a recommendation for a gaming award. As a matter of fact, this Battlefield title is probably one of the most forgotten. When people say Bad Company, they are usually discussing Bad Company 2, this title’s more popular sequel.
