That's the thing though, the playerbase was not big enough because most people abandoned the game early on. Yes they added crossplay, but also went to 128 player games and added a bunch of new modes/eras.

It was hubris on DICE's part to think there game would be such a success they could just forgo a proper server browser. It was also really inconsiderate to players in smaller regions.

It's recovered now, but only because they gave the game away. But that doesn't guarantee players in the future, especially after the live service ends.

Its kind like how BFV is hard to play now because they never bothered to at least put in a server rental program before abandoning it, knowing full well the extent of the cheating there.