Battlefield 6 is an upcoming first-person shootergame developed by Battlefield Studios[a] and published by Electronic Arts. Serving as the eighteenth installment in the Battlefield series, the game will release on October 10, 2025, on PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S. The game's single-player campaign is set in 2027 and features a conflict between a fractured NATO and Pax Armata, a private military company. The multiplayer mode features four character classes: Assault, Engineer, Support, and Recon, who each specialize with different weapons and combat strategies, and has several returning game modes with the new Escalation mode being added.
Following leaks from March 2025 to July, the game was officially revealed the latter month. The open beta periods were held in August, with the first attracting over 500,000 players.
Gameplay
Similar to its predecessors, Battlefield 6 is a first-person shooter. The game is set in 2027, and involves a conflict between a fractured NATO and a private military company named Pax Armata.[2][3] The multiplayer mode features four character classes: Assault, Engineer, Support, and Recon. The Assault class is proficient with assault rifles and grenade launchers and favors a run-and-gun playstyle with faster health regeneration. The Engineer class uses submachine guns, can repair friendly vehicles, and specializes in destroying hostile vehicles with rockets. The Support class excels with light machine guns and supports teammates by resupplying ammo, placing makeshift cover, and healing and reviving allies. The Recon class can carry out battlefield reconnaissance, uses sniper rifles, and is ideal for long-range engagements as a headshot kill prevents opponents from being revived.[4] While any class can use any weapon, each class has unique gameplay perks when using specific weapons. For example, Recon players can hold their breath while aiming with a sniper rifle.[5] Weapons can be extensively customized with mods, but each weapon has a designated attachment point limit that cannot be exceeded.[6]
The game also introduces several quality-of-life improvements, including a new movement system called the "Kinesthetic Combat System", which allows players to lean around cover, hitchhike onto vehicles, and drag fallen soldiers to safety before reviving them.[5] As with previous entries in the series, the game emphasizes environmental destructibility. Buildings can be demolished with explosives, and obstacles or floors can be destroyed to create new paths. Maps are sprawling, suitable for both infantry and vehicular combat. Each map also includes "Combat Zones"—smaller, more confined areas designed for close-quarters combat.[7] At launch nine maps are scheduled to be available, with additional maps planned for release through post-launch updates.[8]
The game offers multiple multiplayer modes, including returning modes such as Conquest, Breakthrough, Rush, Team Deathmatch, Squad Deathmatch, Domination, and King of the Hill. The battle royale mode from Battlefield V is expected to return. A new mode, Escalation, pits two teams against each other as they seek to control capture points in a map. However, the number of points gradually decreases, funneling players into specific map areas.[9] The Portal map creation tools introduced in Battlefield 2042 returns, and it includes a new editor powered by the Godot engine.[10]
Development
Battlefield 6 is developed by DICE, Criterion Games, Motive Studios and Ripple Effect Studios, under the collective branding of Battlefield Studios.[11] Before the studio's closure in 2024, Ridgeline Games was also involved in the development, focusing on the single-player campaign.[12] DICE leads the multiplayer development. Motive and Criterion lead the development of the single-player campaign, with Motive also contributing to multiplayer map design. Ripple Effect Studios is currently leading the development of the battle royale mode.[13] Following the response to the previous installment Battlefield 2042 (2021), described by Edge as the worst in the series's history, focus was put on attempting to improve that game and developing a new entry via Battlefield Studios under Vince Zampella, who was installed as overall head of Battlefield weeks after the launch of 2042.[1] In July 2025, Ars Technica reported that the game faced significant development challenges, including team burnout and exhaustion, cultural clashes among the four studios, unrealistic sales expectations from EA, and a ballooning budget far exceeding $400 million.[14] This would make Battlefield 6one of the most expensive video games to develop, described by EA CEO Andrew Wilson as an "all-in as a company" effort.[1]
Following the response to 2042, EA launched "Battlefield Labs", a closed-access worldwide playtest for Battlefield 6, allowing DICE to collect feedback from players and make gameplay adjustments.[15]Battlefield 3 (2011) and Battlefield 4 (2013), described by Zampella as the "heyday" of the franchise,[16] were cited by the team as their main sources of inspiration, and the team added that the game will have a "serious" tone.[17]Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010) influenced the creation of the "Tactical Destruction" system,[18][19] and the team made an intentional design choice to prevent players from destroying all buildings in a map.[20] Given the limits to the system memory of the Xbox Series S, the development team had to implement software optimization to accommodate the technical limits, the benefits of which technical director Christian Buhl said applied to the game as a whole.[21]Battlefield 6 will be the first mainline Battlefield game since Battlefield 4 to include a linear narrative campaign.[22] Motive further added that Lioness and Civil War, stories about "talented but ordinary people put in extraordinary situations", inspired the team.[23]
Release and promotion
In February 2025, publisher Electronic Arts announced Battlefield Labs and released gameplay from a pre-alpha build.[24] By March 2025, early gameplay footage from Battlefield Labs had been leaked online by playtesters.[25] The title was leaked early in July 2025 when EA sent packages to influencers featuring the Battlefield 6 logo.[26] The game was officially revealed as Battlefield 6 on July 22, 2025.[27][28] Two open beta periods were held in August 2025. Progression during the open beta awarded players with items that could be used in-game at launch.[29] The first open beta period attracted more than 500,000 players.[30][31] Following the open beta period, Battlefield 2042 received an update that added a new battle pass. It features items that could be used in Battlefield 6.[32] The release is scheduled for October 10, 2025, on PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S.[1]
Reception
The game utilizes EA's Javelin kernel-level anti-cheat, which requires that secure boot be enabled in the computer's firmware. Javelin had already been implemented into numerous Electronic Arts titles, including previous Battlefield games, and has drawn some controversy regarding conflicts with Valorant, another title using a kernel-level anti-cheat. Valorant is not possible to simultaneously run with Battlefield 6 because of conflicts between Javelin and Riot Vanguard, that game's kernel-level anti-cheat software. Phillip Koskinas, the head of the anti-cheat team at Riot Games, stated that while Vanguard can co-exist on the same system with Javelin, Battlefield 6 does not allow the Valorant launcher to be running simultaneously.[33][34] Electronic Arts claimed in August 2025 that the Javelin anti-cheat has blocked over 300,000 attempts to cheat.[35]
1 2 3 4 Spencer, Alex (November 2025). "Rally Point • Why EA is razing Battlefield to its foundations in order to build something new". Edge. No.415. Future plc. pp.54–63.
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