The Battlefield 6 beta is well and truly behind us. By EA’s own admission, it had the most players in Battlefield history, for a beta or otherwise. There’s clearly significant interest in the game, but the beta also garnered a lot of criticism.
Following the beta’s conclusion, the developer promised that it would come back with an update on all the hottest topics coming out of the beta, and how it plans to address each concern. That day is now here.
Battlefield Studios shared a response to a few key areas of feedback from the Battlefield 6 beta in a new blog post. The writeup addresses weapon mechanics, movement, modes, player counts, playlist options, and the variety of maps.
Starting off with weapons, the developer said recoil is getting a pass to make tap-firing and burst-firing more rewarding. The full game will also better represent the range characteristics for each weapon, which likely refers to how SMGs were unreasonably more accurate at range compared to ARs.
Of course, the ever-annoying M87A1 shotgun was touched upon in the post. At launch, getting a kill will require more pellets. While Battlefield Studios does touch on discrepancies between time-to-kill and time-to-death in some situations in the post, the issue remains under investigation.
While movement in the beta was generally praised, some players attempted to push its limits in ways that try to resemble Call of Duty’s. In response, the full game will reduce horizontal momentum carried from a slide into a jump. Consecutive jumps are also being penalised with a lower height for each one. The inaccuracy gained by firing while jumping or sliding is also being increased. Finally, parachutes now have lower initial acceleration.
Map exploits are next on the list. You may have seen instances of players reaching out-of-bound spots (mainly rooftops) during the beta, and the developer is working on making them impossible in the final game.
Of course, the other complaint about maps is just how small they were, effectively making them all practically play the same. The blog post stresses that there’s going to be more variety at launch, but it also confirms that upcoming Battlefield Labs tests will feature Mirak Valley, and Operation Firestorm – two larger maps that will be available at launch.
One of the most discussed modes in the beta has been Rush, and the post clarifies the developer’s intent with its implementation in Battlefield 6. The beta featured 12v12 matches that some said were too small, though mainly because of the map design.
While the post doesn’t touch specifically on the map sizes for Rush, it does confirm that it’s going to continue to be a mode with a (relatively) small player count, leaving Breakthrough to deliver that large Rush-ish experience.
One of the most interesting (and welcome) parts of the post is a discussion on the studio’s philosophy when it comes to player counts per mode/map. Battlefield Studios said that maps and modes are each designed to fit different player counts, which inevitably means these numbers are going to vary.
In essence, player counts aren’t set in stone, and instead vary based on what works for each situation. The blog post gives the example of Breakthrough, a mode that will be available on maps with 48 players, and others with the full 64.
Another controversial topic from the beta has been the availability (and visibility) of playlists. The developer reiterates that Open and Closed Weapon playlists will continue to be options at launch, and that it’s “looking for ways” to make those options easily accessible.
The last takeaway from the post is that some of these changes – including the aforementioned larger maps – will be part of the next Labs sessions, which is exciting for those who have access to that.
For everyone else, Battlefield 6 will be available on October 10 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.