Battlefield 2042 devs respond to “oppressive” bullet spread mechanic

Liam Mackay
Boris in Battlefield 2042

Battlefield 2042 has finally arrived but the bullet spread mechanic making gunfights extremely frustrating for players is an issue, and the devs have issued a response.

Battlefield 2042 has now entered early access, and players are still familiarizing themself with everything Portal, Hazard Zone, and All-Out Warfare have to offer.

However, Battlefield 2042 features a bullet spread mechanic which is frustrating players. This is also in Vanguard but appears to be much stronger in Battlefield. With the way the guns are designed, bullets don’t go exactly where you aim – leading to randomness in gunfights.

After player backlash, DICE’s Lead Game Designer has responded to the concerns.

M5A3 in Battlefield 2042 Orbital map

Ever since Battlefield 2042 launched, players complained that something felt off about gunfights. Reddit user JetW77 demonstrated exactly what the issue is, showing off the significant bullet spread.

Even though the reticle was directly on a stationary enemy, JetW77’s DM7 completely missed every shot, with the bullets going in wild directions. And the Reddit user isn’t the only one affected by this issue, with the Battlefield 2042 subreddit full of clips showcasing bullets going in random directions.

One user said the bullet spread “makes DMR’s absolutely useless. I’m sick of hitting about 10% of my shots with them.” Another said that “They better fix this, this is 1000% unacceptable.”

DICE has confirmed they’re aware of the issue after Twitter user VII Catalyst tweeted that Battlefield 2042’s “gunplay has me having 0% confidence in my gunskill.”

“I’ve competed against the best BF players in the world,” they continued. “I shouldn’t be questioning taking a gunfight against ‘BillyBob374’ because of unreadable/oppressive spread and hitreg issues.”

DICE’s Lead Game Designer, Florian Le Bihan, was tagged in the replies. He responded, “Thanks for the tag, we’re looking at weapons already and are planning on a few changes regarding spread. Not date or specifics to share for the changes yet though.”

So DICE is aware of the feedback and is looking at bullet spread, but there’s no sign of a release date for the fix.


For more Battlefield 2042, you can check out the best controller and mouse and keyboard settings.

Image Credit: DICE / EA

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About The Author

Liam is CharlieIntel's Editor who focuses on Call of Duty but also plays lots of fantasy RPGs or anything else in his massive gaming backlog. After graduating in Journalism from Edinburgh Napier University, Liam freelanced in games journalism before joining CharlieIntel in November 2020. You can contact Liam at [email protected].