More information is starting to surface regarding Battlefield 6, with DICE seemingly being deep in the developmental phases of the franchise’s next mainline experience following 2021’s Battlefield 2042. Fans have already been able to piece together a good overview of what kind of experience this next entry to the series will bring, with many rumors and reports shining a light on things like the alleged setting, core mechanics, and release window of the upcoming project.
One recent report concerning Battlefield 6 sheds some light on the development team of the title, with it seeming like a lot of the team behind Battlefield 6 are entirely new to the franchise. The division that this news has already caused is understandable, with the presence of these fresh faces either being a good way to move away from the many negatives of recent projects like 2042, or causing a loss of the traditional values behind older releases that Battlefield 6 is reportedly aiming to recreate.
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Battlefield 6’s Fresh Development Team Puts the Project On a Knife Edge
A lot of discussion is currently being had around the upcoming Battlefield 6, with DICE offering sporadic insights into the title’s development and core gameplay experience over the past few months. It was recently confirmed that the next Battlefield is undergoing the most extensive playtesting in the franchise’s history, for example, with it also being confirmed that the project will be centered around a modern-day setting.
The discourse around the title has only been heightened with recent statements being made by a reported anonymous ex-DICE employee, who claimed that most of the developers from past Battlefield releases have since left the company, meaning a lot of brand-new developers are at the helm of Battlefield 6. This widespread lack of tangible past involvement in the Battlefield franchise is of course quite concerning, with a move away from the recent shortcomings of Battlefield being the only potential positive of this move.
Battlefield 2042 was quite notorious for the way it failed to resonate with many long-term fans of the franchise, with its largely unfinished launch state and the absence of things like a single-player campaign being a few examples of how the 2021 title garnered its divisive reputation. The core gameplay mechanics and themes of BF2042 felt quite unreflective of the franchise’s prior standout titles in the eyes of many fans, and a shake-up of Battlefield 6‘s development team could act as a logical move away from this lingering negativity.
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Despite this, it is worth mentioning that 2042 did eventually bolster its content and somewhat repair its reputation throughout its long roll-out of post-launch content, and the reported ambitions of Battlefield 6 seem to demand veteran developers who know the franchise inside and out. A lot of the positive current sentiment around Battlefield 6 stems from how the title is allegedly aiming to emulate fan-favorite games like Battlefield 3 and 4 through its setting and gameplay, and the core of what made these past titles so successful might be harder to recreate thanks to this reported lack of experience.
The former DICE employee’s statement suggested that up to 98% of developers who have worked on past Battlefield titles have allegedly left the company.
The same statement around BF6‘s lack of veteran developers also caused outrage with its claims that EA is attempting to make Battlefield more in line with Call of Duty through things like annual releases and an increased focus on in-game seasons and battle passes, showing a huge disconnect between BF‘s future and the franchise’s community, if true. With this extremely divisive approach being shouldered by new developers, it seems difficult to imagine BF6 hitting the same beats as titles like Battlefield 3, even if some fresh faces might have partially helped move on from the shortcomings of 2042.
