Battlefield Devs Address Open Beta Feedback, Double Down On Changes To Rush
By Moises Taveras
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Auto-posted by TMGClan NewsBot
By Moises Taveras
Battlefield 6's whopping open beta has now come and gone, and Battlefield Studios is addressing the feedback it has received, chiefly as it pertains to the game's bigger maps and criticism of player counts across its modes.
One of the main concerns for players coming out of the beta was the status of Battlefield 6's larger maps. The biggest one in the beta, Liberation Peak, was popular enough with players who craved the classic large-scale warfare of the series--even if it had far too many snipers--but many were left wanting more. This feeling was only exacerbated by the beta's apparent focus on smaller maps and modes, like Breakthrough and Rush on infantry-focused arenas like Siege of Cairo, Iberian Offensive, and eventually, Empire State.
In response to players starved for bigger maps, which have already been revealed by dataminers, Battlefield Studios has assured the community that "larger-scale maps are already part of our launch package," and they're on the way. The post elaborates that two of the game's significantly larger maps, one set in Mirak Valley and the other a remake of Battlefield 3's Operation Firestorm, will be included in the next phase of Battlefield Labs testing, which is set to continue leading up to Battlefield 6's launch on October 10.
Fans of Battlefield have come to expect certain things of the games, and one of those core tenets is greater player counts than the average multiplayer FPS title. However, a great deal of these players were let down when the fan-favorite mode Rush was introduced in the second weekend of the beta with a significantly smaller lobby size than usual, supporting up to 24 players in tight 12v12 matches.
Rush typically tasks teams with defending and attacking pairs of bomb sites at a time and has supported bigger lobbies in past games, which is what has wrinkled fans of the mode about its implementation in the latest game. It and the 64-player Conquest modes are often looked to as the signature modes of the Battlefield series and emblematic of its emphasis on big battles, so any significant change to it was bound to cause a stir. Battlefield Studios hears the concern from players, but also thinks that this downsizing might be the best move for Rush right now, and that it is in line with what it calls "the golden era" of the mode.
The team shared, "When it comes to Rush, the conversation we observed wasn't just about player count, but also about how maps play, and the tactical experience they offer. Rush is a mode with deep roots, originally known as Gold Rush in [Battlefield] Bad Company, where matches typically ranged from 12v12 to 16v16 players. Many of you remember this as the golden era of Rush, and it continues to inspire our approach today."
It then goes on to say that despite toying with bigger lobby sizes in the past, these inflated player counts often led to issues that are streamlined or eliminated outright by cutting back and emphasizing smaller-team tactics. Due to that, the team is sticking with its lowered default player count for Rush, but encourages players wanting large-scale Rush to use Portal, Battlefield's custom matchmaking and level-building mode.
Elsewhere, the post goes into more detail about overall beta numbers. As folks may have gathered from the queues, livestreams, videos, and posts on social media, Battlefield 6's open beta was a knockout for EA. According to a graphic released by the team, there were roughly 420 million matches played over the course of the two beta weekends, totaling about 92 million hours of play. Players racked up more than 4.9 billion kills, knocked nearly 4 million jets out of the sky (I was at least half a dozen of those), and did 196 billion dollars in property damage.
Battlefield 6 releases on October 10 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
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