With the first beta for Battlefield 6 having wrapped up today, more details are coming out about EA’s plans for the title. In a series of social media posts, Battlefield lead producer David Sirland wrote about the much-requested server browser for the game, and how its presence through the Battlefield 6 Portal browser will help multiplayer. Sirland also reveals some behind-the-scenes details about how the title’s multiplayer servers work.
When asked about it not being easy for groups of more than 4 players teaming up together to get into a match, Sirland said that the server browser through Portal will allow players to find ongoing matches in a quicker way.
“I mean that is what we have been harping about, the portal browser is basically enabling that + map playlists and in a persistent way too,” wrote Sirland. “It’s not the ‘i stumbled upon a cool server in my city’ server browser – but for organized play, it sure hits the mark.”
When it comes to how the server browser works, Sirland mentions that Battlefield 6 will feature custom experience, with some even being verified, which means that players will be able to earn full progression XP while playing them. He states that melding this with matchmaking servers, which can start up and shut down quickly depending on the number of players essentially gives Battlefield 6 “the best of both worlds”.
“It’s a server browser, it contains servers, some are custom experiences, some are verified (which is what most are looking for on this topic). “The combination of the pool of the persistent servers and the spun up ones is not very useful. Matchmaking servers spin up in seconds (get filled with players), and spin down after game is over. That couple of seconds plus when servers lose alot of players mid game is the only time you can join, which makes it a tricky combination (and full of queuing to join issues).”
This approach to servers and the server browser available through Portal, Sirland believes, is the best way to give players the most options when it comes to how they can enjoy Battlefield 6. “We think the current setup gives us the best of both worlds, as you can choose to go spin up a server through regular matchmaking – or find an existing server that is already running – or create your own as well,” he said, going on to add that players will get to experience the server browser for themselves as testing is slated to start soon.
DICE producer Alexia Christofi had previously confirmed that the server browser for Battlefield 6 – available through Portal – will also offer players plenty of ways to filter out the kinds of servers they see. She also noted that the server browser in Battlefield 6 will feature enhancements over the one from Battlefield 2042, including full XP for players through verified servers, as well as ways for DICE to filter out servers made specifically to exploit the game’s progression systems.
For more details about the multiplayer of Battlefield 6, check out how effective the Javelin Anticheat system has been for the game’s first beta run over the weekend. Battlefield 6 is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 10.