Battlefield 2042 dev apologizes & removes “slap in the face” Portal mode
Battlefield 2042 devs added a new zombies mode to Portal, but it quickly became clear that it could be used as an XP farm. Players called it a “slap in the face” and a Battlefield Portal dev has since apologized and the mode has been removed.
Battlefield Portal gives players an incredible amount of tools to create their own modes using assets from previous Battlefield games and 2042. After assuring players that it couldn’t be used to farm XP, the devs almost completely removed Portal XP after the browser was full of XP farms.
The devs made changes to Portal XP in January 20’s Update 3.2, increasing the XP cap for unofficial servers. Then, they released the Zombie Survival mode that acted exactly like an XP farm and quickly removed it following backlash.
Battlefield 2042 players have been desperate for Portal XP to be reenabled after it was removed from custom modes to prevent XP farms. Developers Ripple Effect increased the Portal XP cap in the January 20 update, but it’s still not as much as players would like.
Then, later on January 20, the devs added the Zombie Survival mode which players called an “official bot farm.” In this mode, players would battle waves of AI enemies who would be extremely easy to kill, earning a ton of XP and Mastery rewards in the process.
Twitter user 235Nuke said the Zombie Survival mode is “a slap in the face to gaming communities and others whom [sic] want to run experiences in portal. This zombie mode is an official bot farm which is why XP was restricted in portal.”
This tweet prompted a response from Ripple Effect’s Senior Design Director Justin Wiebe, who apologized.
“I’m not going to lie, this one shouldn’t have gotten through our review process,” said Wiebe. “I think our desire to create a fun zombies mode clouded our ability to see such a simple thing like the impact it would have on progression. I’m very sorry for the hardship this has caused.”
More and more players had the same complaint as 235Nuke and the developers removed the mode on January 21, replacing it with Gun Master 2042.
DICE is committed to getting Battlefield 2042 back on track, revealing that the next major patch will be Update 3.3 in February.
Then, Season 1 is expected to launch in March bringing new content such as the Exposure map.
Image Credit: DICE