Why Battlefield 6’s Extensive Playtests Are Such a Necessary Evil

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 28, 2024 10 Views 6 Min Read
Why Battlefield 6’s Extensive Playtests Are Such a Necessary Evil



The next Battlefield game is officially in development, but details on its gameplay, setting, and story are still very scarce. But as is usually the case with a project of this scale (at least four studios are working on the game), some information is bound to slip through the cracks during development, and Battlefield 6 has seen plenty of leaks sprout up in the last few months.




Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson has been the source of many of Battlefield 6‘s leaks over the last year or so, and his latest report paints an interesting picture of the sequel’s development process. On November 19, Henderson published a report that claimed Battlefield 6 is currently undergoing the most extensive playtests in franchise history, with both small feedback sessions and large-scale play sessions occurring frequently. This might seem a bit excessive at first glance, but it’s exactly what the Battlefield franchise needs.

black ops 6 battlefield basics

Related
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Successful Return to Form Proves It’s Time For Battlefield to Go Back to Basics

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s focus on tradition has been quite successful, and the next Battlefield could emulate this with its own iconic mechanics.

Why Battlefield 6’s Playtests Are Necessary

The Battlefield Series Has a Rough Track Record with Launches

When Battlefield 4 launched back in October 2013, its first few months of life were plagued by an onslaught of technical issues. From major server issues that would kick players out mid-match, to severe netcode problems that would cause extreme lag, to progression-breaking bugs, to minor glitches like wrong audio files being played, Battlefield 4 had no shortage of problems at launch.


These issues were so bad, in fact, that EA and DICE had to delay all planned updates and expansions to Battlefield 4 so that they could focus solely on fixing the game. But despite EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson telling Eurogamer in June 2014 that Battlefield 4‘s launch was “unacceptable” and that something like it would never happen again, 2018’s Battlefield V repeated history.

Absurdly long matchmaking queue times, progression tracking issues, server filtering issues, a bevy of UI and menu problems, and a litany of other grievances hampered Battlefield V‘s already controversial launch. Battlefield 2042 didn’t fare much better a few years later, and that one-two punch of disappointment is a large cause for the fan-base’s heel-turn on the Battlefield franchise.


So, if Battlefield 6 is truly undergoing more playtests than ever before, that could only be a good thing. Testing so long before launch will presumably let Battlefield 6‘s developers troubleshoot and resolve any issues long before fans get to play the full game, hopefully paving the way for a much smoother launch day experience. And in this modern age of gaming where server issues can have severe long-term effects on a game’s reception, Battlefield 6 can’t afford a bad launch.

Playtests Support Battlefield 6’s Player-First Approach

Back in September, IGN’s Kat Bailey interviewed Head of Respawn & Group GM for EA Studios Organization, Vince Zampella, about the next entry in the Battlefield franchise. One of the lasting impressions fans had coming away from this interview is that Zampella and the rest of the Battlefield 6 development team are trying their best to give fans exactly what they want, with him directly stating that the team is trying to hearken back to fan-favorite entries like Battlefield 3 and 4.

These extensive playtests for the next Battlefield should also help to achieve the developer’s goal of giving fans the type of Battlefield experience they want when it comes to actual in-game content.

Source link