As we get closer to the Early Access beta for Battlefield 6 – which will be kicking off on August 7 – followed by the beta opening up for everyone on August 9, EA has revealed what kinds of changes have been made to the game after taking feedback from the Battlefield Labs playtests into account. In a large post, the company revealed how it changed up the game’s maps, its classes, and decided to offer the choice between Open and Closed weapons for its classes, thanks to the feedback.
To start things off, the choice between Open and Closed weapons comes down to allowing the in-game classes to equip just about any weapon they want. However, despite this, the game is still hoping to incentivise players into making the “correct” choice by offering bonuses. For example, a Recon with a sniper rifle can hold their breath for a longer time to line up headshots than an Assault would. To kick things off, the open beta of Battlefield 6 will feature a Closed Weapon Conquest playlist that will offer full XP progression. Aside from this, players will get to play Open Weapons playlists as well.
As for the map changes, an 8-second video has been released, which you can check out below, featuring analysis of heat maps for a map based on player movement and behaviour during playtests. After observing how players were navigating through the map, the developers changed up some of the zones and corridors to “better the flow of movement and the pace at which players traverse and fight each other”. Some of the bigger changes include providing players with additional cover and adjusting the objective size.
Interestingly, the developers have also noted that the Domination game mode, which traditionally only allows players a single spawn in each round, will offer ways to revive allies. The developers have noted that reviving allies is a core gameplay element of traditional Battlefield game modes, and have decided to also bring the element into Domination, “adding an extra layer of strategy and teamwork to the experience.”
Adjustments have also been made to the game’s various weapons, especially when it comes to time-to-kill and time-to-death statistics. Taking player feedback into account, the developers have decided to also allow for more weapon customisation while also making the customisation UI more user-friendly. The UI also now better represents Signature Weapons to players, allowing them to manage their class-based loadouts more effectively.
Changes that have been made to the four classes in the game – Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon – have also been detailed. Assault, for example, will have fewer chances to heal. Rather, the tools that the class has access to revolve more around being on the frontlines, with items like the Adrenaline Injector now giving the class resistance to flash and stun effects and giving them a higher tolerance against explosive and incendiary damage. Assault will also have access to traits that promote being in the frontlines, like Commanding Presence, which speeds up objective capturing for nearby squad members.
While Engineer and Support will be seeing smaller changes as the betas go on, Recon is seeing a major one with its Pathfinder training path replaced with a new Spec Ops training path. It will offer up new stealth-based bonuses, such as being able to spot nearby enemy gadgets, quieter stealth takedowns, and being able to leave combat more quickly by going prone. Recon will also be able to use the Aim Spotting signature trait that automatically spots enemies that the class sees when aiming down sights.
Battlefield 6 is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Early access for the first beta will start on August 7, opening up to everyone on August 9 until it goes offline on August 10. A fully open beta will go live on August 14 and will run until August 17.
