Report: Streamer Claims DICE Paid Over 60 Content Creators to Help Develop Battlefield 2042 but Ignored Every Advice Given

[Gamernyc78]

Report: Streamer Claims DICE Paid Over 60 Content Creators to Help Develop Battlefield 2042 but Ignored Every Advice Given

Streamer Shroud says that DICE paid 60 to a hundred content creators to help develop Battlefield 2042, but ignored every single advice.

mp1st.com

This was revealed by content creator and streamer Shroud. In a recent Twitch stream, Shroud, who’s real name is Michael Grzesiek, mentioned:

“They (DICE) asked and paid for maybe 60 to 100 content creators for their help. They did consulting with a lot of us. It started at like 60 or something, and then it got narrowed down to 40, and then 20, and then 10 or whatever it was. Did it a few times. They didn’t listen to a fucking thing we said. Not one thing! Not one thing we said…not a single one! Not one! Why the fuck did they pay us? I mean, I got paid, but I couldn’t believe it. Like, we know what we’re talking about; we play games for a fucking living. We don’t stop; we just play, play, play. We have you guys in chat who just echo all the shit that’s bad.”
Of course, we don’t know what the advice given to DICE was. I mean, for all we know, the content creators might have mentioned how DICE needed to make the game more like Call of Duty, no? On the game’s subreddit, Reddit user Zyphonix_delivered a fair few good points.

In addition to that, another Reddit user FoxDaim pointed out how Shroud thinks Battlefield 4 — a game that some deem as the best in the franchise — sucks and is overrated.

Now, we’re left wondering what advice Shroud and the other content creators gave DICE, and why the studio opted not to implement any of ’em.
Should have DICE followed the content creators’ suggestions? Would this have “saved” Battlefield 2042 from a rocky launch?

 

[ethomaz]

I’m not even sure why Battlefield still exists.
Bad Company supposed the best spin off never got a remake or new games for decades.
Neither the B1, B4, etc could manage to sell what B3 sold.

And I say that… the last Battlefield I played was 3.

 

[Bryank75]

Thats so EA.

It's so modern games industry actually.

Don't listen to any of your customers, don't listen to any feedback and if anyone calls you out, say they're toxic.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Typical suits think thy know what's best.

 

[Johnic]

I know this sounds like a situation where you want to blame executives but it's rarely a good idea to ask players, especially those who make their sole income, for advice on how to develop it.

 

[Gamernyc78]

I know this sounds like a situation where you want to blame executives but it's rarely a good idea to ask players, especially those who make their sole income, for advice on how to develop it.

You don't go to them for budget suggestions but you sure as hell go to them to know what's popular in the gaming scene. I mean thts the whole point of playtesters, it's not just about finding bugs.

 

[Johnic]

You don't go to them for budget suggestions but you sure as hell go to them to know what's popular in the gaming scene. I mean thts the whole point of playtesters, it's not just about finding bugs.

Popular isn't always better. Extraction shooters/battle royale stuff is what's popular now and I don't want BF to become that. They even tried battle royale with BFV and an extraction mode with 2042 and neither worked out.

A lot of these people base their content on outrageous stuff. The grander the better. That way you might end up with balance issues and bad gameplay mechanics.

A lot of these people also love the competitive scene and if you cater to that crowd, you end up with the latest Halo and one of its biggest issues. The push for a competitive design.

You have Bad Company 2, BF3 and 4. Take the best parts from those games, BC2 destruction and BF3/4 gunplay and vehicle combat and you have a winner. No need to reinvent the wheel. I have no idea why these companies drastically change the design then get baffled why their stuff isn't selling.

 

[Polyh3dron]

game players don't necessarily make the best designers

 

[Gamernyc78]

Popular isn't always better. Extraction shooters/battle royale stuff is what's popular now and I don't want BF to become that. They even tried battle royale with BFV and an extraction mode with 2042 and neither worked out.

A lot of these people base their content on outrageous stuff. The grander the better. That way you might end up with balance issues and bad gameplay mechanics.

A lot of these people also love the competitive scene and if you cater to that crowd, you end up with the latest Halo and one of its biggest issues. The push for a competitive design.

You have Bad Company 2, BF3 and 4. Take the best parts from those games, BC2 destruction and BF3/4 gunplay and vehicle combat and you have a winner. No need to reinvent the wheel. I have no idea why these companies drastically change the design then get baffled why their stuff isn't selling.

Playtesters are a thing for a reason, thts my point. Bigger isn't always better, popular isn't always better, we know this. These ppl are consulted to know what the market wants and what's fun, something suits know shit about.

Games are created by dozens of ppl not one (most of the time). Common sense dictates thts not the only group you listen to. I don't even know why this is even a debate when ppl like this have been used for years, it's common practice now.

 

[Gediminas]

game players don't necessarily make the best designers

of course not, but you can translate their input through designers lens. but if you don't listen, you can implement nothing. usually gamers talk about engagement, fun factor and which obstacles hinders that.

 

[Gamernyc78]

All this is common sense. Why hire all these ppl at all.

 

[anonpuffs]

game players don't necessarily make the best designers

No, but they are usually able to articulate when something doesn't feel enjoyable or is boring/off.

 

[Yurinka]

They didn't pay them to help develop the game, they paid them to be featured on their streams, or to put them in a playtest and get feedback and suggestions, which doesn't imply that they'll implement everything (or anything), it's just to take note of what people -or certain player type- thinks about the game.

Maybe a streamer suggested to do something, but anything else or almost the totality of the players prefer the opposite, something devs can see in the game metrics, tracking all the gaming media and user reviews and tracking millions of people in social media.

Or maybe the devs agreed and would have wanted to implement stuff they asked for, but didn't have time to implement everything they wanted and did prioritize more prioritary stuff (things thay pays bills).

P.S.: YouTubers have no idea about game development, game design and what works in the game market: they are just random players, and random players have all kind of different and conflicting opinions and different tastes and preferences. It's impossible to make everybody happy.

 

[xollowsob]

The industry: "Why are budgets exploding? We need to increase the cost of games!!!"

Also the industry "Piss all of this money away"

 

[Nomen_Nescio]

The Grim Reaper that is EA has claimed another victim I have little hope for the new game. Right now I am struggling to find a game fully stacked with players wo bots in BF 2042, even on weekends, meanwhile I can find full games in BF 5 and even BF 1 (have a bit more trouble here, but it is fine most of the time). That is what happens when you have bean counters that see success as catering to more and more people of vastly differing tastes in a desperate bid to take an ever bigger piece of the pie, fueling that wet dream of capitalism of ever increasing profits, endlessly, which is so obviously and clearly unsustainable ( at least to anyone not caught in their greedy point of view).

 

[Nomen_Nescio]

Don't listen to any of your customers, don't listen to any feedback and if anyone calls you out, say they're toxic.

The Bean counters at EA:

 

[Gamernyc78]

The industry: "Why are budgets exploding? We need to increase the cost of games!!!"

Also the industry "Piss all of this money away"

Yeah let's hire 60 influencers/Game testers and not listen to them and just waste perfect money. For tht don't hire them at all.

 

[Kokoloko]

Sounds about right. Seen this happen before

 

[Gamernyc78]

Sounds about right. Seen this happen before

Pure waste.