I prefer Premium for similar reasons to Forerunner, on the basis it has worked in the past.
The problem with GaaS is finding a way to ensure a revenue stream to support post launch support and integrating it into your game in such a way that provides incentive to players. This is a really difficult thing to accomplish and it's why so many big publishers hire marketing/gambling/psychological specialists to explore the most effective, manipulative, and seamless means to integrate appealing microtransaction content into a game while also retaining players. You want a lot of people playing, a lot of people watching, and a lot of people buying shit.
I said this way, way back when Battlefield V was very first announced and my suspicion was DICE/EA had this weirdly ambiguous direction to capitalise on the Twitch streaming phenomena. In all early interviews and press releases they repeated this who concept of having a "squad" that you'd build and advance through World War II, unlocking new gear and outfits, customising, and forming an identity and bond with your team. The half hearted emphasis on squad play falls right into the popularisation of modern streams hitting up stuff like Fortnight and PUBG. Imagine if, in EA/DICE's fantasy world, people were playing Battlefield the same way? As in, booting it up and playing with their characters made to look like their style with all kinds of gear and accessories and their own goofy little personalised squad that they Stream with mates and all that. The idea is that this imprinted digital identity expressed in the game becomes appealing to others, who buy the game and make their own characters and squad, and begin their own journey of unlocking and purchasing customisable content. Fortnight and PUBG make an absolute fortune doing exactly this, creating a culture of dress-ups and inclusivity only by having a unique character.
It just all fell apart because the fundamental framework and market for Battlefield is one that does not support or give two shits about this kind of content. Nobody really cares about customising your character and imprinting a unique virtual identity onto your Generic Assault Soldier. Following the course of World War II with events and changes and climatic moments is only as effective as the content delivered, just like how it works so well with Fortnight. Battlefield V has done jack shit of value with Tides of War because the support framework was never there.
It really falls in line with that interview posted above citing disconnect between visionary leaders and feedback from the team and everyone else, the former pushing to meet some idea of a game that isn't necessarily any good. And that's Battlefield V's problem. I don't for a second doubt the leadership team had an idea for Battlefield that wasn't inherently awful but still probably not appropriate for the series and pushed excessively for it despite the rest of the game not forming around these ideas, by both virtue of being a Battlefield title and lack of coherency between vision and execution. Battlefield V has such a muddled identity, worsened by such poor implementation of features. I don't know the numbers, but I seriously doubt the microtransactions implemented as they are have pulled in anywhere near as much money as Premium. Some people care, but do most really want to buy BATTLECOINS to play as unique soldiers or a gun skin that's a bit shinier or has some grass on it? Is this what people want or think of when they play Battlefield? Who cares if you even have this gear. Battlefield V does such a poor job making it presentable or on display that there's no real energy to the customisation anyway.
DICE needs a massive fucking overhaul.
