Introduction: The Battlefield franchise is one of the cornerstones of the decades-long rise of the first-person shooter genre. Since the early 2000s, this gaming series, along with titles like Call of Duty, has managed to establish competitive FPS games as one of the most popular online genres. Despite its success, Battlefield and its publisher, Electronic Arts, have not managed to stay on the same level as its main competitors. The same struggles were acknowledged by the developers and that was what brought about the Battlefield Labs, an initiative created to improve the series with the direct feedback and input from players. The result is Battlefield 6, an upcoming game that has enormous ambitions, but for the first time in many years, it seems that it could have enough traction with the gaming community to attain the same level of success.
Article: A few years ago, the last title in the Battlefield series came out. The game, called Battlefield 2042, generated a lot of buzz among the FPS fans, and EA invested heavily in its promotion. However, the same game failed substantially shorter than what the developers and publisher expected. It was solely a multiplayer game without any single-player campaign. It offered, for the first time in the franchise, cross-platform play, but also faced heavy criticism for technical issues and an overall lack of content. While it had many successful features among the player base, the title as a whole simply could not keep up with the huge free-to-play hit that was Call of Duty: Warzone. This release of the Call of Duty series took out all of the oxygen from another modern warfare game, the Battlefield series. This was even further underlined by the fact that at that point, both series had a clear focus on developing massive multiplayer games.
Back then, many game industry experts believed that the entire franchise might die out. But the team at DICE and other co-development studios was not ready to throw in the towel just yet. Instead, they immersed their teams in a brand new initiative called Battlefield Labs. This project was set up to organise closed playtests where Battlefield gamers could try out different features and new gameplay mechanics. The mission of Battlefield Labs is to feel the pulse of the gaming community and double down on successful features, while at the same time, developers would use its info to sideline or completely remove unsuccessful features. Through the months, those efforts resulted in Battlefield 6, which EA expects to reach a player base of over 100 million. Yet, for the first time in many years, there are strong chances for that to actually happen.
Warfare Setting
The new Battlefield game will be squarely rooted in the modern environment, but with a big geopolitical twist. The exact storyline of the game is still in the dark, yet the trailer shows the American President addressing his nation, along with the hostile mercenaries of the private military corporation called Pax Armata. In the game, these mercenaries have apparently invaded the US mainland. The game will pit Pax Armata against the US forces, aided by their NATO allies. In the trailer, there are also numerous moments of utter destruction, like missiles hitting the landmark Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. This, along with the presence of all manner of heavy military gear and vehicles, shows that Battlefield 6 will fully immerse gamers in modern combat and all of its aspects.
Classes Return and Weapon Loadouts
EA and developers have been pretty quiet when it comes to full details about the return of the class system in the new game. However, thanks to leaks and many tidbits of information that appeared over time, it is likely that Battlefield 6 will return to the four-class system. This will cover the heavily-armed Assault class, the Support class for aiding teammates, the Engineers class with their destructive capability, and lastly, the Recon class with mobility and long-range weapons. But players will have the freedom to either use a closed weapon system, which locks weapons to the type of soldier they choose, or an open setup, where they can use anything, regardless of what class they are playing. The same class-based system will be welcomed by many Battlefield fans, as it was one of the key distinctive features of the series. It was also a big issue for Battlefield 2042 and possibly a key element that led to its commercial failure.
Destruction and Vehicles
A big appeal of Battlefield 6 should be in its destructible environment feature. Games like The Finals recently showed that players of FPS titles enjoy the tactical versatility of being able to take down entire buildings and other structures. The same is also interesting from a spectator point of view, so it is clear that the developers wanted to introduce it, especially now that modern game development tools allow for such complex mechanics. A similar element is seen in the game’s use of vehicles, including the powerful tanks. Each of these will be able to accommodate up to six soldiers, where one of them can control the tank’s main gun, and another the secondary turret. It seems that a lot of EA hopes are riding on the Battlefield 6 destructible environment as a crucial hook for new players.
Massive Player Base
The marketplace for FPS games is incredibly competitive, and the same has been true for years. The main competitors in this space have very deep pockets. Call of Duty: Warzone carved out its leading market position over a prolonged period of time, grappling with other popular shooters month after month. EA also has very deep pockets and now, it seems it has a long-term strategy to take on Warzone and any other game that might špay off in the next year or two. This publisher wants to see the active player base for Battlefield grow to over 100 million, and thanks to Battlefield Labs, that target could be reached. It will ask for constant playtests, and these will have to evolve and improve Battlefield 6 even once it comes out. Still, the healthy elements are all in place even now, months before the game should come out on October 10, 2025. Destructible environments will produce engaging content for new gamers that will be shared across social media and video platforms. Simultaneously, old players of Battlefield will enjoy the return to the game thanks to the classes and weapon systems they want to see. The aim of 100 million might take years to achieve, but the new Battlefield could reinvigorate the franchise well beyond the free-to-play multiplayer shooter genre
.
Author: Ivica Milaric, game designer and assistant professor of game design at the Novi Sada Academy of Arts, Republic of Serbia