Battlefield Hardline Failed Because „Cops Don't Demolish Skyscrapers”
One of the developers of Battlefield Hardline gave his opinion on why the game failed. According to him, the police theme wasn't in line with the military traditions of the franchise.
- Battlefield Hardline turned out to be a big disappointment;
- According to one of the devs, the problem was the game's lead theme;
- He believes that the clashes between police officers and criminals did not fit the character of the brand, whose key element are large-scale battles between soldiers, during which entire buildings are destroyed.
The Battlefield series consists mostly of hits. One of the few exceptions to this rule was Battlefield Hardline, released in 2015. In a recent interview, Scott Warner, i.e. one of the game's designers, admitted that the main reason for this failure was the fact that the police theme did not fit the character of the series.
According to the developer, the Battlefield series revolves around multiplayer warfare. Fans are accustomed to large-scale clashes, massive explosions and the destruction of buildings. Battlefield Hardline was all about law and criminals, and that's a very different kind of action. Police officers don't tear down skyscrapers, Scott said, and that kind of action has become standard in the military installments of the series.
Battlefield Hardline enabled us to play as cops and robbers, which in itself is an attractive fantasy for many players, but not in the form of a game from this particular series. Trying to combine a new concept with the traditions of the series led to constant clashes in gameplay, which the developers never managed to eliminate. Perhaps that game would have fared better as a new IP.
Battlefield Hardline was released in March 2015 on PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The game was received much colder than other installments. On Metacritic, the PC version has an average rating of 71%, which is the worst score for a game from the series.
