Millions Are Addicted to Battlefield 6 – Here’s Why

by

I can’t believe it’s finally here! After all the waiting and excitement, the full campaign for *Call of Duty: Black Ops 6* is now available to play for free with the new trial! And that’s not all – it sounds like *Black Ops 7* is really listening to feedback. They’re adding open matchmaking and persistent lobbies after the beta didn’t quite hit the mark. That’s awesome to hear!

Battlefield 6 is now available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. It’s already become the most successful launch in the series’ history on Steam.

It wasn’t a shock to see such a strong launch. Experts predicted over 1.8 million copies sold and more than $100 million in revenue. The pre-release open beta was incredibly popular too, with more players on Steam at its peak than all of the *Call of Duty* series combined. While *Battlefield 6* hit a peak of 747,440 concurrent players shortly after release, this number significantly surpassed *Call of Duty*’s Steam records. In fact, it was several times higher than the most players *Battlefield 5* and *2042* ever had playing at the same time.

Right now, the game’s servers are experiencing huge wait times, with tens of thousands of players in queues. A problem with the EA app prevented players who bought the game directly from EA from accessing it, forcing many to request refunds and repurchase it on Steam. While player numbers on Xbox and PlayStation are still being counted, it’s clear the game has already sold millions of copies on its first day. After a long period of uncertainty and lack of progress, it’s safe to say that *Battlefield* has made a successful return.

It’s not simply that the multiplayer is enjoyable despite its flaws – like small maps, unchanging weather, and the absence of naval battles – or that the campaign is better than many critics say (though it’s not perfect). It’s also not just about *Call of Duty* repeating the *Black Ops* formula for the second year in a row and falling short of expectations (at least, judging by the beta and what we’ve seen of the story). There have been other realistic military shooters available, like *Hell Let Loose*, which offer a similar experience, whether you prefer a World War 2 setting or something more modern.

As a long-time Battlefield fan, it’s always been about that unique feeling you get when a new game comes out. But with Battlefield 2042, it felt like something more went wrong. It wasn’t just a bad game – a *lot* of work went into it, with multiple studios like DICE, Ripple Effect, Criterion, and EA Gothenburg all contributing, and somehow it still ended up a mess. Thankfully, Electronic Arts realized things needed a major overhaul and decided to bring all their studios – including Motive – together to completely rethink their approach to Battlefield.

Even though there hadn’t been any news for over three years, the development team—later known as Battlefield Studios—kept working steadily. Despite reports that the single-player campaign wasn’t progressing well at Ridgeline Games and EA’s ambitious player count goals, optimism remained. When Jason Zampella announced a return to modern warfare and a focus on recapturing the best elements of past *Battlefield* games—like *Battlefield 3, 4*, and *1942*—it felt like they were creating something truly exciting.

Instead of making a formal announcement, the game developers launched Battlefield Labs, a large-scale playtesting program designed to involve players in the game’s creation. After some leaks and speculation, *Battlefield 6* was officially revealed last July. But the team didn’t stop there – they continued hosting playtests, including an open beta, and even ran a dedicated playtest focused on the Battle Royale mode before sharing all the details.

Honestly, it’s awesome to see people getting hyped about this again! There are definitely new players jumping in, which is great, but a lot of us have been *Battlefield* fans for years. We loved what made the series special – the different Classes, being able to blow stuff up, those huge maps, fighting in vehicles *and* on foot, and always having objectives. *Call of Duty* just didn’t scratch that same itch. It really took *Battlefield 2042* messing with all that good stuff to make a lot of us lose interest.

With *Battlefield 6*, DICE showed they remembered what made the series popular and how to attract veteran players. A key part of this was promising realistic cosmetic items, especially as *Call of Duty* was leaning towards more outlandish collaborations. While the beta test was generally well-received, players criticized the game for lacking a server browser (even though the Portal feature wasn’t active yet) and for inconsistent damage rates.

The developers could have dismissed player feedback to stick to their original plan, but surprisingly, they quickly started fixing the issues. They even made significant changes, like overhauling the Assault class and adding a new training option for Recon. Plus, they listened to requests for naval battles, and fans responded positively – they weren’t skeptical at all.

The game is exceptionally well-made, with fantastic modern visuals, sound, shooting mechanics, and performance. However, this success wouldn’t have happened if the developers hadn’t listened to what fans wanted – a difficult task considering everyone has different opinions. While some players are still unhappy about being able to use any weapon with any class, the addition of a separate playlist for classic ‘Battlefield’ weapons is a good compromise for those who prefer that style of gameplay.

I often say this about online shooting games, especially those that are constantly updated – a strong start is important, but what happens *after* launch is what really matters. It’s not just about how much new content the developers release, or how they make money (remember, this is still a full-priced game!), but how they listen to players. We saw this with *Battlefield 5*: it got much better over time with updates, but one update that drastically changed how quickly players could be killed caused a huge backlash from fans.

Despite a few problems, *Battlefield 6* is currently very popular. However, DICE will eventually need to address player concerns. Even a single issue, like a disappointing battle royale mode, could change how players feel about the game. It’s unclear if DICE will continue working with the community to make improvements, but no online game is perfect, and all live-service shooters have their challenges.

The best thing right now is that *Battlefield* is back, and it’s a blast to play. Whether you’re flanking enemies and rescuing teammates, or tearing through the map in a tank, it’s incredibly enjoyable. Flying a jet and bombing everything – even if you miss a lot – is a rush, especially while dogfighting other players. After many fans were disappointed with previous entries, this new game successfully recaptures what made the series so beloved, and it’s truly fantastic.

Please be aware that the opinions shared in this article are the author’s own and don’t reflect the official stance of GamingBolt.

Read More

2025-10-13 18:15