I bought Battlefield 2042 for $3 – now BF6’s $70 price feels even worse

We gamers are used to sales. So when an opportunity arises to get an unplayed title for a few dollars, it’s a treat, right? The return on time is less demanding, and why not fill in a gap or two in your games catalogue? An entry missed in a series, or a big game with an unusual discount, can make your day.

But there’s an interesting dynamic at play when previously premium or triple-A titles become available for less. And it’s not just that it elevates the value of the game you’re buying. As it turns out, cheaper games significantly lift the bar for newer releases, offering a new prism through which to view the increased costs. 

When it was announced that Battlefield 2042, which I’d never played before, would include a free pass to unlock cosmetics for Battlefield 6, like a lot of people, I thought, “That’s cute”. So I immediately browsed Steam and realised that BF 2042 was $3. No longer cute, but “That’s smart”. After all, $3 for a game in 2025 really isn’t much at all, and BF 2042 was released at $60 in 2021.

Obviously, we know exactly what this is: a no-brainer marketing push for Battlefield 6. Get people hyped for the new release with ‘free’ rewards for $3 and their time while having them reconnect with the Battlefield name. Clearly, it’s a loss-leader. EA shifts more copies, and gamers like me play a game they haven’t played before.

So I paid my money, installed the massive 100GB title, and jumped in. Except after a few rounds of Conquest (128 player chaos!), Breakthrough, and avoiding Team Deathmatch because my PVP skills aren’t why I play Battlefield, I realised “wait, this is actually not terrible…”.

My realisation of having a not terrible experience in BF 2042 isn’t because it’s a game that still feels well worth its original $60. It’s quite the opposite: the fun-to-cost ratio is strong at $3, even if I go through matches without any kills. I don’t even really care about the game’s narrative, and the near-future stylings are far less distracting than they would have been had I bought the game at launch; they’re attractive curiosities even. Granted, 2042 takes up a lot of drive space, which isn’t ideal, but the installation is extremely likely to be temporary. 

Naturally, at this point, any hype for BF 2042 has long since become dust on the wind. And it’s very clear that even though it’s only four years old as I type, it’s not at all like the slick, fast-paced successor that’s arriving in October. In fact, it immediately feels like an older Battlefield game: enjoyable in its way, somewhat niche, and never destined to achieve mass adoption. 

But I do feel bad for having ignored it completely. Even at $10-15, BF 2042 feels as though it would offer fun. That said, I’m not blind to the fact that the ‘Road to Battlefield 6’ free pass has artificially driven up player numbers and competitive gameplay, at least until October. And I’m not blind to the huge elephant-shaped shadow here while we’re having fun engaging in the older game.

As a BF ‘fan’ who, but for obvious reasons of reporting, may have been inclined to shy away from the upcoming release, $70 feels a lot. It feels even more to ask when players have been playing a game $67 cheaper. I’m completely ignoring the $100 Phantom edition of BF6 here, too, because I can feel my wallet wincing. But my uncertain view on Battlefield 6’s value comes down to two things. 

The first is that, based on the open beta, the game isn’t where it needs to be to justify even the standard edition cost. With valid debates about TTD (time-to-death) being too quick, and weapon attachment combinations being OP, these feel like issues that need to be perfect on launch because they’re genuinely experience-damaging. And at $70, the experience should be as slick as the destruction effects if gamers are expected to rack up hours to drive down the cost-per-play.

Is ‘perfect at launch’ an impossibly high bar? Perhaps. But while I’m not pretending I know how much it takes to return profit on a triple-A game, I do know how much my groceries and utilities cost. And $70 isn’t nothing. Is BF 2042 perfect? Not at all, but at $3 it’s fun and livable. 

Given the high cost of Battlefield 6, my second point is that the Campaign mode could help bump up the value. I mentioned that I don’t really care for the narrative of BF 2042, but at its knock-down price and my focus on the free pass, why would I? It’s ultimately a functional, if cheap and fun, connection I have with this title. 

However, if Battlefield 6 can deliver a campaign that’s up there with the best around throughout its reported six hours, it can claw back value. We currently have the backdrop of the campaign, and although concerning reports stated it didn’t pass May’s alpha gate at the same time as other elements, it really needs to come out strong – especially against whatever it is Black Ops 7 is doing.

BF6’s Campaign is also a confirmed inclusion we haven’t seen so far, so it’s under the radar to a degree, and I’m after gripping, emotional investment, and well-written dialogue to drive that home. If BF6 can pull that off, it’s worth the cost of around two theatre tickets to me… let’s say $20 worth. So that could lower the concern somewhat.

The other $50? Well, the much-improved balance, as mentioned above, is a must for all the value that will drive. That would secure a more playable experience that I may be keen to invest more hours in for the sheer thrill and fun of it. It may not be the thousands I played BF3 and 4 for, but it could be hundreds. After all, the game is clearly much sleeker and more refined than BF 2042. 

Is it 23 times better than the comparable current costs suggest, at $3 vs $70? No. And in purely economic terms, that is a big issue for BF6, even if the $3 tag of its predecessor isn’t real. While 2042 is driving the hype with a free pass in a cut-price game, EA and Dice really need to sell a dream of BF6 that will come to life on launch. Otherwise, that direct price comparison becomes much more of a problem.

Unbridled multiplayer fun, a captivating story, and Dice resolving the acknowledged beta issues by launch are all essential for BF6 at its stated price. Of course $70 still doesn’t look great against its $3 forebearer, but if all those are delivered, then it may carry favour with enough gamers to hit EA’s 100 million player target.

Naturally, should a proper large-scale Rush with vehicles emerge in the future, that would raise my eyebrows and change my tune a little. But I’ll take a flawless title with an engaging world delivering on promises. A low-cost gift from EA, and the grind for cosmetics only gets you so far.