Battlefield™ 2042

Not only was the game a failure and only partially resembles previous games in the series, which raises doubts about the legitimacy of using the "Battlefield" name, but they're also introducing restrictions for people who already bought this scam. The latest update requiring the use of Secure Boot simply cut the online player count in half, from 9,000 to 5,000, while cheaters will quickly bypass the restrictions, if they haven't already. This is an absolutely insane measure that crashed the online player count and complicated game access for most people. I am the owner of an Asrock motherboard and the manufacturer strongly advises me not to use this option. Initially, on the first BIOS versions for b650, it was completely broken, but then it seemed to be fixed. However, I use a 9000 series processor and I need to frequently update the BIOS, and updating requires disabling Secure Boot, and during updates there's a probability of losing keys that I cannot back up. Why couldn't they require enabling this only for players suspected of cheating? Why should I lose access to the game when cheaters will find a workaround anyway? When purchasing the game, I was not warned in any way that they could take away access to the game at the developers' discretion due to BIOS settings - this is a clear violation of consumer rights.

The developer added a "secure boot" requirement which I am not willing to comply with. If they are unable to implement a good anti cheat it should not be my responsibility to change my bios/hardware to fix their problems. This practice seems shady at best to me. A game that forces you to change BIOS settings just to keep playing is putting users at risk of destroying their whole rig. I have effectively been locked out of playing a game i enjoyed and even spent money on in app purchases. This should in no way be acceptable and Steam should take a clear stance on whether they allow this on their platform or not. Practices like this do impact my view on Steam as a Company if not addressed. What is Steams perspective on this? Do I have to expect to get locked out of other games I purchase on Steam, just because the developers decide to require secure boot?

The use of BitDefender and other third-party antivirus software suites, even reputable ones, will eventually run the risk of getting you Game Banned. How, exactly? Well, if your antivirus software happens to have an active Online Threat Prevention mechanism—the kind that intervenes when a suspicious page or page element is connected to and loaded, to block it right then—it will cause EA Anticheat's Game Service process to repeatedly hang on launch, and intermittently drop and lose packets during a match and in general. All while you, the player, write it off as being the game's fault or your system hardware's fault, unknowingly having a ticking countdown timer of eventually being surprised by getting Game Banned for Cheating by specifically Using Software for Causing Service Disruption...Of yourself. And the connection you had to the game servers. How is this problem dealt with, so that you never run into the issue I did? Well, one must specifically create an exception for the file path [b]C:/Program Files/EA/AC/EAAnticheat.GameService.exe[/b] within the antivirus software's Online Threat Prevention, or similarly named feature set list. If you created a generic exception for this program, you are still not safe. It must explicitly be toggled to be an exception targeting the Online Threat Prevention feature; not generic scanning of it. If you did this process correctly, as an added bonus, you may find that the infinite startup movie launching bug happens far less often, or not at all. This might even be the true fix of it. No extra Windows Defender Firewall rules necessary beyond what was automatically prompted about. (Reset your Firewall rules to Defaults if you like, by the way. Just to be safe.) Windows Security and Microsoft Defender are assumed to not require setting this given they are Microsoft products. Certainly not Windows Security given it is the bare essentials of antivirus protection in Windows. — This Steam Review supersedes prior Steam Guides on the subject of improving game launching ability. I may update them in the future for awareness spreading purposes, but for now, they are to be treated as Archive Only. This the least I can do for you, as someone who finally solved the reason for my game ban, but has no other ability to dispute it through official means in exhausting the maximum of 2 Ban Dispute appeals per case. There isn't much else for me to do now, but perhaps those who were similarly Redacted, Discarded, Stranded, or in solidarity with those who were could band together as No-Pats in their own rights. Whether to seek Renewal, or to make a Final Stand...As a Bad Company against an all too familiar and Hardline one. Good bye, 2042. For now, and until further notice, for the future. —SC1040 / TS2.

How unfortunate. I will not be playing anymore. This game is almost 4 years old, and I've seldom experienced cheaters during my 700+ hours. The choice to enforce this type of anti-cheat on an older game with no glaring issues feels out-of-place and disingenuous. I don't care if Secure Boot becomes the norm for competitive multiplayer games moving forward, but suddenly and retroactively enforcing the change for this title has rubbed me wrong. In all honesty, I am extremely skeptical of EA's competence and have lost confidence in their capabilities as a publisher. Their past is riddled with dubious and malicious decisions that are forgiven because they've produced a ton a great games during their lifespan. Battlefield as a series has held a soft spot in my heart since 2005, so having it's IP in the hands of EA has left me feeling conflicted. This matter is simply the final straw for me. I'm annoyed that the end-user is forced to adjust settings in BIOS and possibly troubleshoot any arising issues from doing so JUST for the sake of playing a 4 year old video game from a publisher who shares a tenuous relationship with their audience. This issue isn't a matter of can't, it's a matter of won't. I just don't care enough to jump through the hoops for EA on this game. Perhaps on a different/newer title, but not this one. Additionally, this will not be as simple as "pushing a button" for plenty enough people-- my friend bought a prefab last year with Windows 11 installed and yet she needs to go into BIOS and make the adjustments/troubleshoot as well? She is NOT tech savvy, and fumbling around in BIOS is something she is not yet comfortable doing. The repercussions and implementation of this decision falls squarely on the consumer and their computer competency. The onus should lie with the publishers and their ability to coordinate with their community prior to enforcement. Despite playing weekly, I was unaware of this impending change and thus had no time to prepare myself. How much due diligence did EA or DICE provide in informing their audience ahead of time? Posting an announcement in Times Square would be excessive, but a sticky note on the company fridge is not enough. If they would have posted in-game announcements within the weeks leading up to the change, then the reception would not have been filled with as much vitriol and condemnation. TL;DR I don't trust EA, so when the solution feels disproportionate to the "problem" then I'm pushed away. It's a shame. The game itself is fun and beautiful, and I would be remiss to dismiss the hard work that went into the development. If you don't care about configuring your BIOS to allow Secure Boot verification for the sake of EA's Battlefield 2042, then I would recommend buying the game, but only on a steep sale. EA doesn't deserve good returns on bad choices. Remember, your wallet helps influence their decisions.

I spent $109.99 and didn't refund to save you wasting your money. The good: - Portal might be good some day. The bad: - No classes - Wide open maps with no cover - Maps are too big and turns the game into a running simulator - No scoreboard - No changing squads - No changing teams - Awful hit registration - Awful random bullet deviation - Broken hover tank that can scale walls and harder to blow up than a tank. - Bug that won't allow you to re-deploy when you die. You have to leave the game. - Bug that will show your team mates as enemies and they can knife you to death - Only 22 weapons, of which 2 are actually good. - Attachments unlocked that are cosmetic only. - Some attachments do the opposite of what the description gives. - XP disabled in custom portal games - Attachment progression disabled in AoW Solo / Squad matches. - Crashes and disconnects - Persistence data error that makes the game unplayable. - Only two modes on 7 maps for AoW that feels like you are playing wide open fields. - Control points in breakthrough mode on top of skyscrapers what can't be captured because there are 11 vehicles on top. - Hit registration, or lack there of. You will dump an entire clip into an enemies back to have them turn around and kill you. - You can get in a vehicle and shoot and kill yourself because the animation still has you outside of the vehicle. - Crap FPS on the highest end systems. Changing the settings makes virtually no difference. - No stats page - No server browser - Lobby disbands after every game, no carryover - No distinctions between factions except the glow stick colors. Soldiers around the world wear glow sticks to make themselves unseen to the enemy. Sometimes you see the Betty White specialist kill the other Betty White specialist who is then revived by the Betty White specialist. - When you spawn in you are forced into an animation of chambering a round that you can't avoid. If you spawn near an enemy, you are dead. - Not nearly enough destruction. - Can't change the scale of the UI, or the zoom of the minimap. - No all chat - No bullet damage on hit, this goes for vehicle hits too. - Finding yourself on the map or the mini-map can be... challenging. - You can't dive under water but... - You can fall through the map - Portal - No single player campaign that was left out to focus on the multiplayer. - No spectator mode - No community servers - No test range - No 3d spotting - No contextual leaning - No crouch sprinting - No scope zeroing - No tiered or paused reloads - No melee weapon choices - No thermal optics in the future - No Claymores - No first person takedowns which are different based on positioning. - No naval vehicles - No gunner direction indicator - No TV missles - No vehicle kill assists. Do 95% of the damage... Well, too bad. - No in-game VOIP at launch - No static weapon emplacements - No infantry focus maps. You will get farmed by vehicles. - UI is...well...interesting - Impossible to play with more than 3 friends. There is more, but I'm tired of typing. Take it for what you will.

Its not too bad. My major issue with this game is the inclusion of bots... they kinda take away the fun of massive multiplayer games like battlefield. I hope the next battlefield doesn't have any bots but i'll likely be disappointed.

after the recent update #8.8.0 i get the secure boot error. like most PC players i prefer to not mess around in my bios. update made the game unplayable so i guess this is the end for me and 2042. i do not recommend this game to any PC users

Yeah, I ain't going through all that bullshit for a 50/50 chance that it just bricks my computer. You can fuck right off EA.

Good job adding a "secure-boot" requirement, after the game being out for 4 Years and locking out a majority of the few remaining Players. Can't wait for EA's Downfall

Secure boot requirement should not be a thing, It is the developers responsibility to prevent hacks not the players if they cannot fix their own anti-cheat they should find a way themselves and not punish the players.

This game worked fine and met my expectation until the most recent update - when EA decided to introduce a requirement that the user must put their PC into SecureBoot, which could potentially brick my entire computer, just to launch the game into a singleplayer mode - which is how I play the game. I feel like this is deceptive business practices to not even allow someone to play a paid game without significantly altering their personal system. EA knows this is an ongoing problem and has neglected to respond or fix it. I am tired of their business practices and kindly request a refund of their product Battlefield 2042 since I cannot play it anymore.

Good game but Secure Boot ruined it. Should not have to change my system that much to play a game. This is not the norm and greatly disappointing.

Suddenly can't play game because of a BIOS feature isn't enabled for "security" and "anti-cheat" but doesn't consider the reasons why some advanced users won't have SecureBoot enabled. Uninstalled.

Played this game for a long time. Then suddenly they added some "Secure Boot" anticheat bullshit that requires me to go change my BIOS settings and system boot procedure, which is none of their f'ing business and which I will absolutely not do. So I paid for this game that I can no longer play. This is the LAST EA game I will ever purchase. Bye.

I was starting to warm up to the game after I heard it got better, but the new EA anti cheat (which is being backported to older games) is restricting access to Linux and SteamOS users even if the game(s) previously worked fine. If you want to dualboot Windows to get around it, too bad for you, because they are also requiring Secure Boot soon, which can be a pain in the ass (if not impossible for some) to enable for dual boot and primarily Linux systems. I have also heard that this anti cheat has issues besides these for the intended Windows users, although I cannot speak to that. Avoid. Just not worth the trouble for this game. EA has effectively demonstrated that if you're a small enough demographic, they don't mind ripping your access to their games away at any time with little to no notice. (Though we already knew that, there are other examples.)

Just reinstalled this (90gigabitties) to find out they have patched it in a way you have to (on pc) go into your BOH to the BIOS, do multi-restarts and start changing settings ive never had to worry about in 20+years of gaming, sick fix guys even if this game was good (it wasn't) i wouldn't go that far, christ i hope you do so much of a better job on the next one, will probs be a slopfest anyway, Hoick Pteh!

With 8.8.0 and newer I can no longer play the game as it requires Secure Boot, which I don't have enabled as I intentionally multi-boot. So instead I'll just uninstall Battlefield 2042.

Never had an issue with the game launching in the past but now it wants me to enable secure boot and game crashes on 1st in game death. No other game I play requires secure boot. Uninstalled. I also actively try to avoid anything that "forces" the EA launcher.

Was relatively enjoying this iteration again recently.. However this update has now made the game unplayable - requiring SecureBoot; I am not doing BIOS changes which people seem to be having issues with leading to their PC not booting and posting etc.

game sucks. secure boot is enabled but battlefield too stupid to tell. broken.

Game won't run - saw the new crossover stuff about Mass Effect and was interested, wanted to try it out. Can't even open the game because it's detecting my BIOS and system software as cheating software - wants me to uninstall my Dragon Center app which I use to control my fans. Upon looking it up - other people had tried uninstalling them just to be given another error for some other MSI system file. Good job really though - thank Gabe I can still refund it. Not even worth the $2 ( sale ) to keep in my library.

I can't play the game anymore, due to secure boot implementation.

I saw secure boot and figured id enable it so that I could play the game That was a mistake. Almost bricked my pc :/

I can't play the game anymore because of a "SecureBoot" error. I hope they fix this fast otherwise I will add EA to my blacklist of Publishers who I consider scammers. If they fix it, I will remove this bad review.

Secure boot. Really? Having seen others brick their PCs, I'm not going to risk mine for this game.

New secure boot requirement was the last nail in the coffin for this game. If next battlefield is anything like this, I will not be purchasing. Bad time to be a battlefield fan.

Gamewise this game is fine, all fun and pew-pew, but with this recent update I would NOT recommend the game. The point of making game secure against hackers is valid, but having to pay tech people extra to fix it so pc can run the game is not valid in my opinion. A seperate program would be fine as has done in the past by EA. It's like having to pay for the game; Full price, and then go to tech support and pay 50€ extra for them to fix it for you. And don´t get me wrong, I've done alot of this stuff since Windows 95 so I'm fairly knowledgeable but I'm still a leyman.

F... you and your secureboot, even when you enable it, the game doesn't work, how stupid do you have to be to put that in the update, you bunch of retards

It was mediocre, now after the latest update that requires secure boot its completly trash.

I MUST enable secure boot in bios to play game. I BOUGHT THE GAME, BUT I MUST TO DO SOMETHING IN BIOS! Uninstalled.

I played this game on EA Play for years without issues. I actually purchased the game yesterday and get a message upon launch of the game saying I need to "Learn how to use EA secure boot" and I am unable to play without it? No thanks. Try again EA

I simply cannot support a company/game that suddenly and unilaterally forces users to make BIOS level configuration changes to launch a game they've already bought. I get its to stop cheating but this is overreach and borderline unethical business practice.

got over 800 hour and i can t play the game anymore because of some security sh it f battlefield 2042 shit show since the start gave EA the chance to to get better oh boy did i get f in the butt never again

one day they decided that secure boot required to run the game, so i just can't run it anymore

Secure boot is turned on, battlefield says it's not. Game is broken. Do not buy until fixed

I actually like this game. I have enjoyed playing it on the EA Games launcher and bought it on Steam hoping it would work with Steam Input for my DualSense and Steam Deck (it didn't, ReWASD did). But now I try to boot it up to play again for the first time in a few months and I can't because "Secure Boot is not enabled." What the hell EA. Now I'm just not allowed to play this game I paid for at all because you want me to change a setting in my bios that changes what I can and can't do with my computer? Are you insane? I've supported this game since launch, I've had fun with it despite all its issues and disappointments. But now I will say stay away.

53 hours into the game and NOW they want me to enable some shit called Secure Boot? No thanks the whole "Having to open EA to launch the game" BS was bad enough. Save your money, buy from devs that give a fuck.

Requesting refund. I dual boot to Linux for my study and work. EA forcing secure boot after the fact should be illegal. I cannot risk corrupting my Linux side just to jump in a game every now and again. Steam should not allow these sort of changes on their platform after a game has been sold and released. This is Sony and Helldivers all over again. We need to be able to trust purchases made on steam.

You're now required to have secure boot enabled to play. I simply can't do that with my system so I guess EA just robbed me of my purchase. Yes, I have a ton of time in the game & I enjoyed it but with EA making this decision they just stole any future enjoyment from me & Many others. If you're not aware of how to enable or disable Secure Boot you need to change BIOS settings to do that. Not exactly something I'd be willing to do for this game.

Really enjoyed this game but am now unable to play it thanks to the secure boot requirement. If that ever goes away I might return but I think I'm just going to uninstall now.

If I cant boot a game that I paid for without jumping through a pointless hoop, its uninstalled. I thought Treyarch was dumb with their tactics trying to weed out cheaters, lol this takes the cake. Not worth the money even on sale.

Finally got time to play again, went to go play and hit with the SecureBoot error. Yeah, I'm not adjusting my BIOS to play this game. At least I bought it for cheap on a Steam Sale and not full price.

Game was fine until secure boot requirement roll out. Now it is unplayable.

Used to be a good game, but went down continously. Exit point is now the secure boot update. Can't play any more. Can't be true you get away with this. We literally can't use the software we bought years ago! EA you suck!

Game unplayable for half your playerbase because of your stupid Secure Boot nonsense. What the hell were you guys thinking?

very nice of EA to force u to enable secure boot setting in your BIOS to be even able to play the game, get the fuck outta here

The game itself is pretty fun. The secure boot requirement took more time to figure out than I currently have in game. It is a redundant requirement and they should just implement better anti-cheat.

developers thought that making secure boot mandatory would be funny which is one thing.... but the game cries every time about random programs on my computer (such as daemon tools, the biggest cheat software ever) and wont even start, really funny guys april fools was a few months ago

Remove the requirement for Secure Boot. I shouldn't need to change my BIOS settings just to run one game and risk bricking my entire system because of it.

It just isn't fun. Played on launch, played years later. It just isn't battlefield. The HUD doesn't even show the overall match score. Play BFV or BF1 instead.