Battlefield 2042 developer DICE is fixing issues in its "walking simulator" style maps but not until summer 2022 at the earliest.
In a developer blog post DICE addressed a number of problems with its map design. It said that overly long travel time between points of interest, an issue frequently identified by players, is a result of its 128 player matches.
"We've seen you use terms such as 'walking simulator' to describe how this feels in-game," the post said. "We understand that this isn't a satisfying experience and agree there's too much overall travel time."
The team plans to fix this by moving the base spawn and flags closer together, focusing on the Kaleidoscope map first. The updated version will be released during Battlefield 2042's Season One, which was recently delayed until summer 2022, meaning it could be more than a year before all seven maps are fixed
DICE has provided "before and after" images (above) to show players what the updated maps may look like, though it has made clear it's still gathering feedback and so these plans could change.
It also said its maps have too many wide open, flat spaces that allow snipers to pick off players from a distance with no real defence. DICE plans to fix this by ensuring "there are more opportunities to hide yourself from enemy line of sight while traversing from objective to objective."
Problems exist in smaller spaces too, the developer said, as there are no real lanes towards objectives that allow for balanced firefights between defenders and attackers. Enemy fire instead comes from all angles, the developer said, so it's working on implementing more defined paths.
The 128 player matches have also resulted in chaotic matches, especially in Breakthrough, and so DICE is considering reducing the player count to 64 amid other solutions such as reducing the number of vehicles spawning.
DICE said all these issues will be fixed when the map updates are released, and is already implementing "healthier behaviours" into the maps coming later as DLC.
Battlefield 2042 has had a tough three months since it launched with several issues in November, and publisher EA recently admitted that it failed to meet expectations, prompting more than 220,000 players to petition for their money back.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale.