A petition calling for EA to offer refunds to all Battlefield 2042 players has now surpassed 200,000 signatures, and continues to grow.
The petition, launched on Change.org several weeks ago, demands that EA offers refunds to all players of the game on all platforms, calling Battlefield 2042’s release “a mockery of every customer who purchased this video game for $70 (USD) due to EA’s false advertising”.
“Electronic Arts and DICE did not keep many promises made at launch, and Battlefield 2042 was launched as unplayable,” the petition’s description reads.
“Even today, Battlefield 2042 has bugs that drastically change the in-game experience so much that it’s deemed an unfinished release by many community members.”
Sitting at 200,000 signatures, the petition now dwarfs the game’s active playerbase on PC. A slate of bugs, glitches, and server issues, followed by a delayed first season of content, has meant Battlefield 2042’s player count has plummeted since it launched late last year. On PC, the game has dropped from over 100,000 active players to less than 2,000 in little more than three months.
According to figures on SteamDB, the number of signatories to this refund petition is close to 100 times larger than the number of players Battlefield 2042 has pulled in at some points of the last few days.
In fact, the game’s player count now sits at a rather awkward number, having fallen below 2,042 players - the very number in its title.
While some players on Steam have been able to secure refunds, those playing the game on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One aren’t so fortunate, with the refund policies on those platforms far more restrictive.
According to Change.org, if the petition hits 300,000 signatures, it will become one of most-signed petitions currently active on the website.
Analysis: is a refund likely?
The petition’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, is unsurprisingly optimistic about its potential. “Signing this petition will get you one step closer to getting a refund on Battlefield 2042,” its description reads. “Suppose this petition receives 50K signatures or more. In that case, I will reach out to some of the best class action lawyers in the country to evaluate a case against EA and DICE.”
There’s nothing in the petition’s details or update page to suggest Nakamoto has followed through with that idea, but comments later in the description reveal the project is more an expression of frustration than a serious attempt to demand mass refunds from EA.
“Signing this petition is the equivalent of saying, ‘I wish I got a refund on this game,’” its description says. “Please sign this petition if you feel you deserve a refund for Battlefield 2042.”
“The gaming community should not tolerate this abuse and bullying from multi-billion dollar corporations who make unfinished games and false advertisements.”
Despite reaching a fifth of a million signatures, the petition is unlikely to lead to the change that many of its signatories are after. The refund policies of Microsoft and PlayStation are notably stricter than that of Steam, and EA has shown no sign of handing out refunds. Although the publisher admitted the first-person shooter “did not meet expectations” during an earnings call earlier in the year, it has neither acknowledged the petition nor publicly expressed that it thinks refunds are appropriate.
In the last major update from Battlefield 2042’s developers, DICE said it had delayed the game’s first season of content to spend the intervening months removing glitches and bugs, fixing connectivity issues, and implementing several gameplay improvements off the back of player feedback. We’re more likely to see the game walk a long, slow path to death than EA hand back its profits.
