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The latest entry in the Battlefield franchise, Battlefield 2042, has not been a success, but the series shouldn't start copying Call of Duty to try and turn its fortunes around. Battlefield 2042 has had an awful launch, with many players complaining of missing content and lots of bugs. However, even though 2042 has had such a rocky start, it is still the second-best launch the series has ever had, which is a strong indicator of how much Battlefield has struggled in recent years.
The Call of Duty series has seen the complete opposite with the huge success of its recent titles. The franchise's latest entry, Call of Duty: Vanguard, has also had fewer sales than expected, but the numbers are much higher than 2042's. Additionally, Call of Duty is constantly enticing players back to the franchise every time a new entry is integrated with the Warzone battle royale game. Continued support and lengthy success have made CoD's free-to-play battle royale one of the highest-earning games, and it looks set to remain at the top, with Vanguard bringing a new Warzone Pacific map and more.
The Battlefield franchise needs to make changes if it wants to succeed in the future, but it can't just copy Call of Duty and expect success. The two series have often been compared against each other, with many fans wondering if the next Battlefield title will be the one to finally dethrone Call of Duty as king of the FPS genre. However, Call of Duty's recent focus on narrativizing its multiplayer and building connections between its different games has become a big reason why it is so successful. EA's franchise has never been particularly famed for its single-player or world-building elements, with Battlefield 2042 even lacking a campaign mode.
Call of Duty has iterated on its narrative elements since its beginning, whereas previous attempts from Battlefield to create story-driven experiences have yielded mixed results. Call of Duty has a lot of key characters who reappear in multiple games and often end up as playable operators in Warzone. Characters such as Modern Warfare's Captain Price, Black Ops characters Woods and Mason, and now Vanguard characters Arthur Kingsley and Polina Petrova, are easily recognized by most CoD fans at this point. Having such a cast of familiar characters makes it easier to keep bringing fans back, as they become invested in their stories or want to play as them in Warzone and multiplayer.
Battlefield never really had these distinctive characters or an overarching narrative that tied all of its games together. The closest the series had was in former US Marine Kimble "Irish" Graves, who was played by the late Michael K. Williams in two Battlefield games. Williams' character first appeared in Battlefield 4's campaign, but he's the closest figure the series has to a recurring figurehead, with the cast of Battlefield: Bad Company having not featured since 2010's Bad Company 2.
The Battlefield series needs to do things differently if it wants to change its fortunes, but copying Call of Duty isn't an option. Call of Duty has spent over a decade creating narratives through different games with its signature characters, and Battlefield can't replicate that immediately. Instead, Battlefield should try and offer players things Call of Duty doesn't, focusing more on its core multiplayer elements, the Tarkov-like Hazard Zone mode, and offering players even more creativity in its new Portal mode. If Battlefield wants to succeed, it needs to stop trying to outdo Call of Duty at what it does best.
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