The Battlefield series went toe-to-toe with Call of Duty during the seventh console generation, but it’s no secret that the franchise has been struggling ever since. The series’ latest installment, Battlefield 2042, wasn’t exactly the smash hit that fans were hoping for. The game was released in a shoddy technical state, had a limited amount of content, and made several changes to the Battlefield formula that greatly upset fans. Because of this, Battlefield 2042 was bombarded with overwhelmingly negative user reviews on sites like Steam and Metacritic, and it became the lowest-rated Battlefield game of all time.
Battlefield 2042 has improved over the years, but it hasn’t really been able to take off like other live service games with troubled launches have (e.g. Sea of Thieves, Fallout 76). In spite of this, the lead developers behind the game, DICE, have revealed that a new Battlefield game is already in production. Although this new installment doesn’t have an official name yet, it’s supposedly coming out sometime within the next 12 months. The new Battlefield game, or Battlefield 6, as it’s colloquially called, is intended to serve as a reboot of the Battlefield franchise, but judging by the gameplay footage that has leaked online, it seems to have a striking resemblance to the older entries in the series.
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Battlefield 6 Seems to Share a Lot in Common With the Old Battlefield Games
Gameplay Footage of Battlefield 6 Has Leaked Online, and Reception Has Been Mostly Positive
Although DICE and publisher EA haven’t released a single trailer for Battlefield 6, the two companies recently held special invite-only playtests for the game to get feedback on it prior to its release. Since they’re required to sign non-disclosure agreements, the participants in these playtests are technically not allowed to share any information about the game. In spite of this, some of them have already uploaded raw gameplay footage of Battlefield 6 to several social media sites. Surprisingly, EA has made little effort to take these gameplay videos down.
After the failure of Battlefield 2042, the Battlefield community has generally been apprehensive towards the prospect of a new Battlefield game, but initial impressions of Battlefield 6‘s leaked gameplay have been quite positive. The as-of-yet untitled installment seems to get rid of many of the controversial features that Battlefield 2042 introduced. The game has no specialists, no 128-player battles, and it no longer takes place in a sci-fi setting. Instead, Battlefield 6 is set in a modern-day location, and it appears to give a lot of emphasis to destructible environments.
It’s a Good Sign that Battlefield 6 is Harkening Back to the Battlefield 3 & 4 Era
The gameplay footage from the new Battlefield installment has most often been compared to 2011’s Battlefield 3. Considering that many gamers see it and its 2013 sequel, Battlefield 4, as the peak of the Battlefield franchise, this is probably a good thing. Vince Zampella, the boss of Battlefield himself, has even expressed similar views regarding this matter. Speaking in an interview with IGN, he revealed late last year that Battlefield 6 was trying to “get back to the core of what Battlefield is” by referring to the Battlefield 3 and 4 era “where everything was modern.”
Some may say that Battlefield 6‘s familiarity is a detriment, because it shows a potential lack of creativity within DICE. However, after what happened with Battlefield 2042, maybe this is just what the series needs: a back-to-basics, traditional Battlefield game that takes inspiration from the best of the best instead of trying to do something radically new. Although innovating in games isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the changes that DICE made in Battlefield 2042 felt more like trend-chasing than actual innovating. DICE should still try to add new, unique features to Battlefield 6 to distinguish the game from Battlefield 3 and 4, but it doesn’t need to shake up the series’ formula so much to the point that it’s unrecognizable.
EA’s Battlefield franchise is a series of first-person shooter games. The games have predominantly been set in the modern day, though there have also been titles set in World War 1, World War 2, and in the near future.
The Battlefield franchise is often compared to Call of Duty, with both franchises offering single-player campaigns and online multiplayer.