EA has announced that its next round of testing for its upcoming Battlefield game via Battlefield Labs will kick off on May 23, and this time around, the playtest will focus on server performance. In a lengthy post on social media platform X, the company has also confirmed that the playtest will last for 72 hours, and will be testing pre-alpha servers in Europe, North America, and some areas of Asia.
The test will also be invite-only, with players that have signed up for Battlefield Labs getting RSVP emails confirming that they have been selected.
“Our primary focus for this test will be to verify server performance and stability with increased player counts throughout a full weekend,” wrote the company. “During this time we will have a select group of maps and modes available for play. The server performance test will conclude in all regions after 72 hours, upon which game access for participants will be revoked.”
Invitations for the test are scheduled to start rolling out in a gradual manner on May 23, 10 AM CEST. More players will be gradually let into the playtest in order to further stress test the servers. Players that are part of the playtest will also be prevented from discussing the game due to an NDA agreement that has to be signed before getting access.
EA had revealed that it would be bringing in more players from different regions into Battlefield Labs playtests earlier this month. The company had also written about the progress that had been made to the upcoming Battlefield game thanks to the playtests it had begun hosting earlier this year. Players across North America and Europe have already contributed by having played early builds of the multiplayer shooter for thousands of hours, which included “hundreds of thousands of player spawns”, and “over a million environmental objects destroyed.”
“Exploring new ideas for the future and receiving direct player feedback continues to be a crucial aspect of the Battlefield Labs process,” wrote the company. “Even if some ideas never reach release, it helps us understand and refine elements that resonate most with players as we continue to build Battlefield together. It’s been a valuable and exciting experience for our team and community so far, and we’re looking forward to continuing that collaboration alongside you!”
During an earnings call earlier this month, EA CEO Andrew Wilson had referred to the ongoing Battlefield Labs playtests as being successful, calling it “the biggest playtesting initiative in franchise history. Wilson also revealed that the poor reception of Battlefield 2042 led to the company looking to more player feedback through various playtests.
“We’ve always worked closely with the community, but we haven’t always worked as closely as we should have,” said Wilson. “We haven’t always really worked to help them understand the things that we’re building and for us to understand the things that they really want out of a Battlefield. We know that when we get it right, Battlefield is a giant franchise and often the biggest shooter in the year.”
Wilson has also expressed optimism about releasing Battlefield 6 later this year in light of Grand Theft Auto 6 getting delayed to May 26, 2026. The shooter doesn’t yet have a concrete release date, however.
