With Season 4 of Battlefield 6 well underway, the development team at Battlefield Studios is getting ready to reveal details about the next major update for the game. Referred to as the Top Gun update, it will be released on August 18th and will introduce aerial combat-focused elements, including the revamped Wake Island map.
The team has noted that, while the previous iterations of Wake Island were known for combined arms warfare that included infantry, vehicles, and aircrafts, all helping to shape the battle, the new version has been “reimagined around the modern combat sandbox” with a “stronger focus on naval warfare and large-scale conflict across land, air, and sea.”
Both sides of the new Wake Island map are flanked by aircraft carriers serving as HQs for both sides, and players will also have to deal with the waters around the island as they figure out how best to get to their objectives.
The Top Gun update also brings in two new game modes that have been designed around air combat and team coordination due to the presence of various objectives around the map. Along with this, as the update’s name might imply, it also serves as a collaboration between Battlefield 6 and the Top Gun movie franchise. The two new game modes are Carrier Strike for Battlefield 6, and Fighter Sweep for REDSEC.
Carrier Strike will involve both teams working to destroy each other’s carriers, with the island being home to many key sectors through which new vehicles could be deployed, and openings can be created. The carrier itself will be able to take damage, which will inevitably lead to battles escalating. The final objective for this mode will be in the guts of each carrier, upping the stakes for both teams.
Fighter Sweep is a new Gauntlet mission that involves taking down enemy jets and destroying stockpiles across the map. Doing so will help to boost the team’s score, and rivals can be challenged in dogfights, all while other players work together to complete objectives.
As a result of the Top Gun collaboration, Battlefield 6 is also getting the new Interdictor sniper rifle, the F/A-81F Super Spectre jet, and the F-74A Seacat jet. Both of the vehicles are two-seat jets, giving players plenty of ways to support their teams by bombarding the battlefield or taking down enemy aircrafts. Fort Lyndon is also getting a brand-new POI – the USS Grant – in the REDSEC battle royale mode. A crashed carrier, it will feature loot that is of higher value than other POIs on the map for the first two weeks after the update’s release.
Aside from new content, the Top Gun update will also bring with it a host of enhancements and improvements to the game. Among these is the new optional ADS Dispersion Crosshair that will give players a clearer idea of how their weapon’s recoil affects accuracy. Airplanes will also be easier to control thanks to Airplane Control Assist, giving newer players an easier way to fly their planes.
Portal is getting a few improvements as well, including an Advanced Editor that includes new, experimental tools like baked lighting and terrain editing to give players more options to design their Portal experiences. The Advanced Editor will be rolled out slowly, starting with the inclusion of the Custom Operation Metro experience by Bellum1988 in Portal’s SDK.
Battlefield 6 and REDSEC are available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
