Battlefield Has Left the Sandbox
There are already countless (video) essays discussing the decline of formerly fan-favorite franchises like the Battlefield series. So I won't bore you with another deep-dive analysis – something that I'm not equipped to provide anyway. Instead, I want to briefly invoke the memory of what Battlefield once was: a place for a variety of players with a variety of interests to enjoy, and dare I say it: a sandbox.
You see, here is what I think many people making the decisions about the franchise got wrong all these years: What made Battlefield a sandbox, something that can be enjoyed in many different ways, wasn't a particular set of in-game features but rather the lack of restraints put on players.
Before there was "Levolution", there was just "destruction". Before there were elaborate animations for a transport helicopter going down, there were thousands of AT mines put down to launch vehicles across the map, there were LAVs flying around and there were people finding ways to snipe at each other from 3000 metres away across the map.
I won't bother continuing to list all the unintended but inarguably fun "mechanics" DICE/Battlefield Studios have removed from the game across the years. Obviously, one could argue that a lot of that fun wasn't condusive to the outcome of a round. But even with all of this happening, an actual match took place where people fought hard to come out on top at the end of the round.
Only glitches or exploits that actually negatively impact these rounds should be removed from the game – something that the developers have, ironically, failed at in the past, sometimes for the whole duration of a game's life cycle. Intended or not, these "tools" combined with the "actual" game provided something for everyone to enjoy.
Yes, a sandbox usually comes with a guardrail and some toys, but it doesn't build a whole sandcastle for you and then automatically destroys it in front of your eyes in an epic manner – all while telling you that this is the only and correct way to have fun. To say that it has been jarring to see every release come with more and more restrictions on actual creativity inside the game would be an understatement.
If you claim to offer a sandbox, build a box, put down some sand and drop in some shovels and buckets. Let the kids figure out the rest. Otherwise, I would kindly ask to have that claim removed from the franchise's marketing once and for all.
PS: The implementation of Battlefield Portal has been like taking a sandbox along with 100 fun toys and tools out of a playground and moving it to a graveyard.