Battlefield 2042 has dropped out of Xbox’s top 50 ‘most played’ games

Battlefield 2042 has dropped out of Xbox’s ’50 most played games’ chart, less than two months after its release.

As spotted by ResetEra user Theorry, the Microsoft Store’s list of the 50 most played Xbox games in the US no longer features EA‘s latest shooter.

It doesn’t fare much better on the UK list, where it’s sitting at 44th place, which is uncharacteristically low for a Battlefield game.

Despite having been released less than two months ago, the game is now played less than such titles as For Honor, Marvel’s Avengers and Star Wars Battlefront.

Even some games that have since been surpassed by sequels, such as FIFA 21 and Forza Horizon 4, appear higher in the UK list than Battlefield 2042.

Battlefield 2042 was released in November 2021 to what has to be considered a disappointing reception.

The player base reported frustration with issues like the lack of a leaderboard, empty maps and problems with in-game vehicles, and the game became one of the worst-reviewed games on Steam, currently standing at more than 60,000 ‘mostly negative’ reviews.

According to Steam Charts, the PC version has also been dropping players at a steady rate. The game’s all-time peak concurrent players stands at 100,590, but last weekend it could only manage a peak of 8,000.

It was reported earlier this week that EA is considering the possibility of making some of Battlefield 2042’s Portal mode free-to-play in an attempt to salvage the situation.

Developed by Ripple Effect Studios (previously DICE LA) and described as “a love letter to Battlefield fans”, Portal lets players design their own match experiences by mixing maps and elements from past series entries with Battlefield 2042.

These experiences can be shared with the community through a web-based platform for both console and PC players.

further reading

Battlefield 2042’s next updates include stability improvements, a scoreboard refresh and XP adjustments

All-Out Warfare matchmaking preferences and voice chat are still on DICE’s radar too

EA is expected to be grilled by analysts about Battlefield 2042’s performance and roadmap during its third quarter earnings call on February 1.

During the company’s first quarter earnings call last August, CEO Andrew Wilson teased the introduction of “free to enter components” for the Battlefield series.