The petition had already been signed by more than 200,000 people on Wednesday. It is not clear whether they all own the game or just want to support the action.
Battlefield 2042 is the latest installment in the popular Battlefield series, the first of which came out 20 years ago. 2042 appeared last November and could almost immediately count on strong criticism. Both reviewers and gamers had a lot to say about everything and especially the poor technical condition of the game. The bugs in Battlefield 2042 ranged from virtual soldiers who could walk through walls to smoke grenades that gamers could defuse by quickly opening a menu of options. With every new defect that Battlefield 2042 emerged, the criticism increased.
In two days, the game was in the top 10 of titles with the most negative reviews in Steam, an online store for game downloads. Against 9,700 thumbs up there were more than 29 thousand buyers who Battlefield 2042 slammed. At some point, more people were playing on Steam Farming Simulator 2022a game in which players manage a farm, than the shooting game that costs 60 to 110 euros.
Four weeks ago a petition appeared on the action platform change.org, set up by someone who calls himself Satoshi Nakamoto. That is almost certainly not the real name of the initiator. Since 2011, Nakamoto has been the pseudonym of the creator(s) of the world’s most famous crypto currency – bitcoin. Change.org does not perform identity checks on users. The call initially attracted little attention, but it has been storming for a week, especially after media like news week wrote about the petition.
Court case
The legal right of withdrawal applies to games, in which consumers can return a product within 14 days and get their money back. The law does make an exception for software and computer games that are purchased as a download and can therefore be easily copied. Most publishers and sellers will only offer refunds if the customer has not played the game for more than two hours.
Electronic Arts has not yet responded to the petition, but CEO Andrew Wilson has previously admitted that the game “falls short of expectations”. His financial right-hand man spoke of a disappointment. According to lawyers, the company has a problem if lawyers claim compensation on behalf of all buyers. In the US, such a class action very common. The proceedings often lead to settlements.
The game publisher won’t say how good Battlefield 2042 has sold, but some sources say at least 4.2 million units. That would mean a loss of possibly a quarter of a billion euros. In 2020, Electronic Arts achieved a turnover of more than 5.5 billion dollars (4.9 billion euros).
