Video games usually die quiet deaths. A server shuts down, the player count drops to zero, and that's basically it. But Battlefield V is weird. It’s been years since DICE stopped supporting it, yet people are still obsessed with the Tides of War system. Honestly, it changed how we think about live service games, for better or worse.
It wasn't just a battle pass.
When DICE first announced the concept, they were trying to fix a massive problem that had plagued Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 4. Back then, the community was split. If you didn't buy the Premium Pass, you couldn't play the new maps. You were stuck in the "base game" ghetto while your friends moved on to the French or Russian DLCs. Tides of War was supposed to be the cure for that fragmentation. Everything was going to be free. Maps, guns, vehicles—all of it. All you had to do was play the game.
What Really Happened With Tides of War
The pitch was simple: we’re going on a journey through World War II. We start at the beginning with the Fall of Europe and we end... well, wherever the war ended. It sounded like a history buff's dream. But the reality was a bit more chaotic.
DICE decided to release content chronologically. This meant that at launch, you didn't have the Americans. You didn't have the Japanese. You didn't have the iconic M1 Garand or the Sherman tank. You had the British and the Germans fighting in the Netherlands and North Africa. People were annoyed. They wanted Omaha Beach on day one. Instead, they got "The Fall of Europe."
The system worked in "Chapters." Each Chapter lasted a few months and had its own progression tree. You'd complete weekly challenges—stuff like "get 10 kills with a semi-auto rifle" or "resupply teammates 20 times"—to earn XP and unlock specific gear. If you missed a week, you missed the reward, though you could usually buy it later with in-game currency called Company Coin.
It was a grind. A real, heavy grind.
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I remember staying up until 2 AM trying to finish a "ToW" node just to get a specific helmet. It created this weird FOMO (fear of missing out) that hadn't really existed in Battlefield before. But it also kept the servers full. Every Thursday, when the new missions dropped, the game felt alive again. Everyone was chasing the same goal.
The Pacific Theater: When Tides of War Actually Peaked
If you ask any veteran player when the game finally "got good," they’ll tell you: Chapter 5. War in the Pacific.
This was the moment Tides of War actually lived up to the hype. We finally got the US Marines and the Imperial Japanese Army. We got Iwo Jima. We got Wake Island. The sandbox felt complete. You could finally feel the scale. There’s a specific feeling in Battlefield V when a Corsair flies over your head while you’re charging a bunker with a Katana—that’s the Tides of War peak.
But then, things got messy.
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DICE started messing with the "Time to Kill" (TTK). They wanted to make the game more accessible for new players during the holidays. They changed the weapon balance, making guns feel like pea-shooters at long range. The community went nuclear. It was a PR disaster that overshadowed the actual content being delivered through the Tides of War service. It showed that while free maps are great, the core gameplay mechanics are what actually keep people around.
The Abrupt End and What We Lost
In 2020, DICE dropped a bombshell. They were ending support for Battlefield V to focus on the next project (which became Battlefield 2042).
The "Tides" just stopped rolling.
We never got the Eastern Front. No Soviets. No Battle of Berlin. No Stalingrad. It felt like a book that ended halfway through the middle chapter. This is the biggest criticism of the Tides of War model: it’s entirely dependent on the developer’s whim. If the game doesn't sell enough "Boins" (the premium currency), the content pipeline gets cut.
Compare that to the old DLC model. If you paid $50 for a Season Pass, the developer was legally obligated to give you four expansion packs. With Tides of War, there was no contract. We got what we got, and when it ended, it left a massive hole in the game's potential.
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Why It Still Matters Today
Looking back, you can see the DNA of Tides of War in almost every modern shooter. The "Seasons" in Call of Duty or Halo Infinite are basically just more polished versions of what DICE attempted here.
It taught the industry three major things:
- Map packs are dead. You can't split your player base anymore. Free maps are the industry standard now, and we have Battlefield V to thank for pushing that forward in the AAA space.
- Weekly hooks work. Even if the challenges are tedious, they give players a reason to log in. Without that structure, a game can feel aimless.
- Chronology is a double-edged sword. Starting a WWII game without the most famous battles is a huge risk. Most players don't care about "untold stories" as much as they care about the iconic moments they saw in Saving Private Ryan.
The game actually has a higher player count on Steam right now than its successor, Battlefield 2042, does some days. That’s wild. It’s because the foundations—the movement, the gunplay, and the remaining Tides of War rewards—created a solid loop.
How to approach Battlefield V now
If you’re jumping into the game today, you aren't "missing" the Tides of War. All that content is baked into the "Definitive Edition." You don't have to wait for Chapters anymore. You can just buy the guns with the currency you earn by playing.
Here is the move:
- Focus on the Daily Orders. These replaced the big Chapter events and give you the currency you need to unlock the stuff you missed.
- Play the Pacific War rotation. Maps like Iwo Jima and Pacific Storm represent the best version of what this system tried to build.
- Ignore the "historical accuracy" debate. The game has some wacky cosmetics from the later Tides of War chapters. Just enjoy the chaos.
- Check the Armory every Tuesday. Even though "active" development stopped, the store rotations still happen, and you can grab some of the rare Tides of War skins for free if you've saved up your Company Coin.
The legacy of Tides of War is complicated. It was a bridge between the old way of doing things and the new "Everything is a Season" era. It was messy, it was ambitious, and it was cut short. But for a few months during that Pacific update, it was the best World War II simulator on the market. That’s why people are still playing it. They’re still riding the waves of a tide that went out years ago.
Actionable Insights for Players
If you want to maximize your time in the current state of the game, start by hitting the "Your Company" tab. Filter by "unlocked" items to see the massive backlog of gear that was once tied to limited-time events. Most of it is accessible now. Don't spend real money on "Battlefield Currency" unless you absolutely love a specific skin; almost every functional weapon and vehicle from the Tides of War era can be earned through standard gameplay. Stick to Breakthrough mode if you want the "narrative" feel that the original Tides of War chapters tried to cultivate—it’s where the maps actually feel like a progressing battle.