However, it goes deeper than that. “The gameplay is what it is about. But depth doesn’t cost you elegance. You can absolutely have [graphics and storytelling], and not to mention, this genre in particular, you should have those things.”

“We pick our battles,” added animation lead Hector Antunez. “The heart of the game is in the tactical combat. But we really wanted to add an element that allowed players to spend even more time in the Star Wars environments and not have those spaces be limited by what would make for fun combat.”

While XCOM featured a home base (or ship) where players could commission research, train their squad members, and choose which mission to embark on next, Star Wars Zero Company goes even further. Its characters are full-fledged companions with their own backstories and grievances (oftentimes with each other). Lead designer Grayson Scantlebury also confesses to “poring through books or going on Wookieepedia” to see which planets made sense “during the Clone Wars era that I could tell that story.”

“Or vice versa: I’m just browsing through and going, ‘Well, what happened on Bespin at this time, or Lothal at this time?'”

That said, your companions aren’t indestructible. Permadeath is very much a thing, and while it presented a challenge, narrative lead Aaron Contreras is glad to have it. “About 13 months ago, I lost an argument about permadeath, and it was good that I did; it was the right decision for the game.”

Foerstch believes it feeds into a major aspect of Star Wars: Loss. “I mean, four years old, watching Obi-Wan Kenobi die, right? It’s about loss, and then also, as a developer, wanting people not to save scum, but to push through the loss, to what’s on the other side of the experience, to feel it.” It’s certainly a feeling which should resonate with contemporary fans as well, especially after TV shows like Andor.

Star Wars Zero Company doesn’t have a release date, but it’s launching later this year for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Head here to learn more about its character customization and other gameplay features.

Headlining Season 2: Nightfall is the Hagental Base map, which is going to be entirely underground and will revolve around close-quarters combat. Players will be able to blast through walls and cave in ceilings in their attempts to flank opposing squads. There are also plenty of corridors which can offer new options for repositioning, or opportunities for long, drawn out gunfights.

Battlefield: REDSEC will see an expansion to its map thanks to the addition of Defense Testing Complex 3 at Fort Lyndon. The new point of interest is a secret chemical testing facility located beneath the main battleground, and features a network of tunnels for traversal and combat.

The update will bring in a new playlist featuring a mix of Team Deathmatch, Squad Deathmatch, and Domination matches, all taking place in Hagental Base. Along with this, all of the matches will also have the new Darkness modifier active, cutting off most of the lights in the base. To counter this, players can make use of new tools like Night Vision Goggles. A new version of Gauntlet, set in Hagental Base with an emphasis on the Darkness modifier will also be available.

REDSEC will be getting a high-speed Gauntlet-styled experience dubbed the Red Bull Supermoto later in Season 2. Ostensibly a dirt-bike race, it will involve eight players competing against each other through three knockout rounds. The final stage of the mode will see four players remaining, battling it out for Red Bull-themed in-game rewards.

Season 2: Nightfall will bring with it two new weapons, both focusing on close-quarters combat: the CZ3A1 SMG, and the vz. 61 fully automatic sidearm.

There have also been other upgrades and improvements brought in with the patch, affecting various aspects from vehicle gameplay, to portable mortar and gadgets, progression and Battle Pass systems, UI and HUD, and audio, among other things.

To cap it all off, Battlefield Studios has announced a free trial period for Battlefield 6 starting on March 17th. Until March 24th, a limited version of the multiplayer shooter will be free to all players, featuring six game modes across four of the maps, which also include newer additions like Contaminated and Hagental Base.

Battlefield 6 and Battlefield: REDSEC Season 2: Nightfall patch notes:

Major Updates & Improvements

• Vehicle Gameplay Improvements: Added light transport vehicle “deturtling”, improved helicopter landing stability, refined vehicle camera behaviour, increased tank braking power, and boosted UH-79 survivability across multiplayer.
• Portable Mortar and Gadget Updates: Expanded Portable Mortar deployment rules to HQ areas, improved minimap visibility and direct-hit effectiveness, and introduced updated Anti-Tank Mine limits and despawn rules for better battlefield balance.
• AI Behaviour and Vehicle Usage Enhancements: Expanded AI vehicle usage to bikes and scout helicopters, improved pathfinding on Contaminated and Eastwood, refined combat priorities, and improved helicopter flare usage and anti-air handling.
• Maps and Mode Fixes: Addressed multiple exploits, spawn logic issues, traversal bugs, and invalid-state problems across Mirak Valley, Siege of Cairo, Eastwood, and Contaminated.
• Progression and Battle Pass Reliability: Delivered a broad progression consistency pass, correcting Battle Pass tiers, token calculations, End of Round rewards, accolade tracking, challenge criteria discrepancies, and stat inconsistencies.
• UI, HUD and Front-End Improvements: Improved threat prioritisation, ping feedback, downed-state clarity, profile navigation, loadout presentation, and resolved numerous visual inconsistencies across Battle Pass, challenges, and menus.
• Audio and Squad Expansion: Introduced the Strix Raiders squad with four unique voice performances, improved footstep clarity and spatialisation, refined vehicle and jet mix balance, and added new Stereo Width customisation options.

Changes

Player:

• Allowed players to change stance earlier during Drag & Revive and improved animation responsiveness.
• Corrected an issue where some onboarding tutorials did not trigger even after meeting criteria.
• Corrected an issue where the “Debris Kill” accolade failed to trigger under correct conditions.
• Improved alignment for first-frame melee animations for smoother transitions.
• Improved first-person arm alignment when crawling and throwing two-handed gadgets.
• Improved first-person vault animations onto mid-sized obstacles and refined blending into locomotion.
• Improved melee responsiveness so hands no longer lag during first-person animations.
• Improved squad management flow so creating a squad during End of Round no longer returns the entire party to the front end.
• Improved tutorial flow so the sprint crouch tutorial now triggers correctly after meeting its criteria.
• Players operating a deployed mortar can now be roadkilled by air vehicles.
• Prevented Razer haptics from persisting after interrupted weapons swaps when reloading.
• Resolved an issue where attempting to melee while pressing zoom simultaneously could prevent the attack from triggering.
• Resolved an issue where entering a ladder positioned above the soldier could launch the player sideways.
• Resolved an issue where scope glint would sometimes not display at long range when aimed at by an enemy sniper.
• Resolved an issue where sprint vaulting over deployable cover placed near a vehicle could launch the soldier unexpectedly.
• Resolved an issue where the Assault’s “Rally Squad” ability would not apply its effects.
• Resolved an issue where the camera could remain suspended mid-air if revived immediately after a vehicle explosion.
• Resolved an issue where the crosshair would not appear while sprinting and firing an SMG equipped with a hand stop attachment.
• Resolved an issue where the first-person pose could become static when performing a Combat Dive while holding a grenade.
• Resolved an issue where the parachute could fail to appear when deployed after exiting a jet.
• Resolved an issue where the player could receive fire damage from greater distances than visually indicated.
• Resolved an issue where the soldier could get stuck flying without control when attempting to enter a ladder from Combat Dive.
• Resolved an issue where the soldier could slide unintentionally if revived during the death animation.
• Resolved an issue where typed chat text could intermittently fail to appear in the input field.
• Resolved an issue where vaulting through bus windows could cause the soldier to be launched.
• Resolved body clipping issues in first-person during parachute landings and while ziplining.
• Uniform Aiming now ignores minor FOV shifts caused by weapon firing and instead calculates sensitivity purely based on zoom level magnification for improved consistency.
• Updated walking weapon movement while zoomed to add physicality based on weapon archetype. Movement now scales without causing reticle deviation from the camera centre and is clearly tied to attachments affecting moving dispersion.

Networking & Hit Registration Improvements

• Applied networking optimisations to improve bullet data transmission efficiency.
• Improved Time Nudge reliability to reduce instances of dying behind cover and inconsistent hit registration, particularly under unstable system or network conditions.
• Increased the number of damage events processed per network update to improve hit registration consistency.
• Increased the Time Nudge interpolation window for more accurate and stable movement prediction.
• Resolved an issue where lethal damage screen effects could appear delayed, improving kill feedback timing.
• Updated the Netgraph to display valid server bullet rejection as red squares instead of crosses for clearer diagnostics.

Vehicles:

• Added vehicle “deturtling” functionality for light transport vehicles. Using steering controls now apply rotational force to the vehicle, allowing it to flip over and continue driving.
• Added the M1030-M1 and TM/O 450 Dirt Bikes.
• Corrected missing decals for the MH350 Scout Helicopter (PAX).
• Decreased speed of the IFV, MBT & Attack Heli Aim Guided Missiles.
• Improved decal zoom behaviour in vehicle customisation across multiple vehicle types.
• Improved helicopter landing stability to prevent the vehicle from sliding across surfaces.
• Improved physics for decorative parts of vehicle skins and how they react when taking damage.
• Improved transport vehicle camera behaviour when driving through objects.
• Improved vehicle camera collision to prevent environment clipping.
• Increased braking power for tanks.
• Increased health of the UH-79 by 20% across all multiplayer modes (excluding Battle Royale).
• Prevented entry into a capsized RHIB.
• Resolved an issue where scout helicopter tracers could be seen behind the muzzle.
• Resolved unintended player ejection from overturned vehicles.
• Restored driver zoom functionality for Transport Vehicles.
• Restricted scout helicopter passengers from using Engineer rocket launchers.

Gadgets:

• Anti-Tank Mines now despawn 180 seconds after their owner is eliminated.
• Corrected an issue where the Gas Mask could appear available on maps without Psy Gas.
• Corrected an issue where the SLM-93A “New” marker would not clear after viewing the gadget.
• Corrected placeholder previews for select gadget skins.
• Improved AN/M14 Incendiary Grenade fire behaviour when obscured by geometry.
• Improved Portable Mortar minimap zoom for better bombardment awareness.
• Improved T-UGS spotting persistence after owner respawn.
• Increased friendly drone icon visibility from 50m to 150m.
• Increased Portable Mortar HE shell effectiveness against stationary weapons (Mortars, emplacements, etc) and vehicles on direct hit, as well as infantry under heavy fire.
• Limited Anti-Tank Mines to 6 active per player.
• Portable Mortar can now be deployed within HQ areas.
• Prevented Mortar deployment outside combat areas.
• Prevented players from earning points by destroying their own supply box using the defib gadget.
• Resolved an issue where proximity gadget minimap pulses could be visible to players who joined a match late.
• Resolved an issue where the “Needs ammo” icon could incorrectly display on the local player while playing Support.
• Resolved an issue where the AN/M14 Incendiary Grenade could apply fire damage outside its intended visual range when obscured by geometry.
• Resolved an issue where the M4A1 SLAM would not highlight correctly when targeted by the Recon Drone or Hardware Suppression System.
• Restored missing Gadget Skins that were not correctly granted under certain circumstances.
• Restored the 9K38 IGLA scope icon in the Loadout screen.
• Restored the MBT-LAW default skin in the Customise screen.

Weapons:

• Added the CZ3A1 SMG.
• Added the Hybrid Sight attachment for the CZ3A1 and adjusted the sight positioning on the M121 A2.
• Added the vz. 6.1 automatic sidearm.
• Added 50 mW Violet laser weapon attachment.
• Added Taclight – Hip rifle weapon attachment.
• Added Taclight – Aimed rifle weapon attachment.
• Added Taclight – Aimed pistol weapon attachment.
• Adjusted DB-12 recoil values to align with intended performance.
• Adjusted grip positioning on the KORD 6P67 to prevent clipping.
• Corrected misaligned attachment indicators and icons on multiple weapons.
• Improved bipod behaviour in third person for the M250.
• Improved consistency for the bipod recoil animation.
• Improved reload rattle sound effects for the B36A4.
• Improved third-person M121 A2 reload presentation and hand placement.
• Resolved an issue where attachments on picked-up weapons could appear misaligned.
• Resolved an issue where attempting to aim down sights after reloading the VCR-2 could temporarily misalign the weapon pose.
• Resolved an issue where bipod recoil behaviour could incorrectly carry over previous firing state settings.
• Resolved an issue where dispersion was too high when re-entering ADS shortly after previously leaving ADS.
• Resolved an issue where the M250 bipod behaved incorrectly in third-person view.
• Resolved an issue where weapons displayed in menus, pickups, and dropped states could show incorrect attachment placement due to presentation inconsistencies.
• Resolved incorrect weapon presentations across menus, pickups, and dropped states.
• Resolved multiple third-person reload clipping issues for the M121 A2, including improved hand placement during reload animations.

Maps & Modes:

• Improved Firing Range dummy reset behaviour.
• Improved Firing Range target dummy hitbox accuracy.
• Resolved an issue where the Mobile Sync Tournament leaderboard did not update correctly.
• Restored Breakthrough Initiation visibility in Training Grounds.
• In Team Death Match, corrected an announcer callout that incorrectly reported an enemy tank in the area when no tank was present.
• Resolved an issue in Breakthrough on Mirak Valley where players were unable to spawn on Point A in Sector 2 while the enemy team was capturing Point B.
• Resolved an issue in Breakthrough on Siege of Cairo where Defenders were unable to deploy on Point B while Point A was contested or captured in Sector 3.
• Resolved an issue in King of the Hill on Eastwood where a large hole at the NATO spawn location could cause players to fall into an invalid state.

Contaminated

• Improved AI vehicle usage at the NATO HQ so AI soldiers can now correctly operate vehicles in this location.
• Resolved an exploit in Escalation that allowed players to clip under the map and shoot through terrain while remaining hidden and unkillable.
• Resolved an issue where destroying the bridge could instantly eliminate the player.

Progression:

• Added 5x 15 Career XP Boosts and 4x Battle Pass XP Boosts as Career Rank rewards, these are now split between Rank 3 and 23
• (Dev Comment: These were live in the previous patch but the note has been carried forward for documenting purpose)
• Camo unlocks are moved from mastery ranks 20/30/40 to 5/15/30 respectively.
• Corrected challenge reroll functionality when accessed via inbox deeplink.
• Corrected discrepancies between in-game and documented criteria for multiple Weekly and Daily challenges.
• Corrected discrepancies between in-game and documented values for “Matches Played” (Career Total Stats) and the “Gunner Kills” accolade in player statistics.
• Corrected incorrect Battle Pass and Bonus Path point calculations at End of Round.
• Corrected incorrect XP rewards granted at End of Round for specific Daily Missions.
• Corrected multiple accolade tracking inconsistencies for: “Top Brass (Highest Scorer Kill)”, “Blindside”, and “Death Mark”.
• Corrected progression tracking for repeated weapon pickups in Collector Trophy.
• Corrected rocket launcher damage tracking for related challenges.
• Further reduction of XP requirements for sidearm ranks by an average of 60%.
• New XP Curve, with a reduced XP requirement, about twice as fast in the early ranks and 15% faster in total.

UI & HUD:

• Added a bot icon to the “Populating with bots” pre-round message.
• Added a dot crosshair while downed for improved ping targeting.
• Added a robot icon for AI bots across UI elements.
• Added a unique killfeed icon for rocket launcher backblast eliminations.
• Corrected “Complete class assignments” deeplink redirect behaviour.
• Corrected 3D curved screen tiles failing to update on the Battle Pass screen.
• Corrected a misspelling for the collection icon “One in the Chamber.”
• Corrected a visual seam on the Battlefield 6 waiting screen.
• Corrected an issue where a land vehicle mastery assignment could progress incorrectly while driving a boat.
• Corrected an issue where the initial interaction screen “Battlefield 6 Season 2” text was missing.
• Corrected an issue where the TR-7 Level 50 Mastery badge styling differed from other mastery badges.
• Corrected an issue where vehicle customisation could appear blurred in specific cases.
• Corrected an issue where vehicle meshes and HUD could fail to load in the vehicle customisation screen.
• Corrected broken Battlefield 6 front-end Bulletin row.
• Corrected broken Deploy Beacon icon in HUD and loadout.
• Corrected Battle Pass Recruit Path Tier 5 reward visuals disappearing after End of Round.
• Corrected Battle Pass reward names, thumbnails, and descriptions.
• Corrected Battle Pass tier notification inconsistencies in Battle Royale.
• Corrected Battle Pass token discrepancies between End of Round and menu.
• Corrected BF Pro Bonus Path token icon display.
• Corrected Bulletin tab remaining selected after returning to the main menu.
• Corrected career showcase icons appearing crossed out in private profile view.
• Corrected Class Mastery Badge reward visibility from Class Assignments.
• Corrected cursor misalignment when searching for players.
• Corrected Customisation UI disappearing when backing out rapidly.
• Corrected Daily Challenge deeplinks failing to land on the correct tile.
• Corrected disappearing ‘Skins’ after hovering over the final ‘Camos’ tile.
• Corrected documentation inconsistencies for select Dog Tags.
• Corrected End of Round reward visibility for Themed Path 3 Tier 7 and Tier 4.
• Corrected featured category duplication and tile overlap.
• Corrected Free Mode Trials timer not updating in real time.
• Corrected front-end access issues for PC users in specific cases.
• Corrected GRT-BC icon display in inventory and loadout.
• Corrected HTI-MK2 Portable Countermeasure icon.
• Corrected inconsistent “New” markers on Daily and Weekly challenges.
• Corrected inconsistent Operations mode icons across menus.
• Corrected inconsistent Themed Path 3 tier completion notifications.
• Corrected incorrect “0” notification after being dog-tagged.
• Corrected incorrect “Leave current party” prompt display.
• Corrected incorrect DualSense back button icon in sub-menus.
• Corrected incorrect party-full messaging in certain cases.
• Corrected incorrect PS5 controller prompts in EA Connect and EA App/Steam flows.
• Corrected incorrect stat display when selecting “Accuracy” in profile showcase.
• Corrected incorrect TDM Challenge 3 display.
• Corrected input switching issues between gamepad and keyboard in the front end.
• Corrected invisible challenges in the pause menu after deploying.
• Corrected lighting intensity in loadout squad view and store previews.
• Corrected matchmaking being blocked by a “Waiting for Party Leader” error.
• Corrected missing Battlefield 6 page in EA App store (regional cases).
• Corrected missing Bulletin tab on Xbox.
• Corrected missing default skin icon for the Armored Transport in loadouts.
• Corrected missing ownership/loadout visibility for Season 2 vehicle skin bundle, Burndown after purchasing it.
• Corrected multiple placeholder cosmetic icon tiles.
• Corrected multiple vehicle decal placeholder names and preview issues.
• Corrected navigation reset issues when moving between categories.
• Corrected partially visible BF Pro Season 2 challenge card.
• Corrected party matchmaking flows that could force players to leave their party.
• Corrected persistent notification dots on player card backgrounds.
• Corrected Phalanx kill card icon.
• Corrected placeholder icons in the “Solar Storm” bundle.
• Corrected placeholder name/icon for the “Brass Tax” player card icon.
• Corrected placeholder names for profile icons Horned Raider and Big Bang.
• Corrected placeholder Scout Helicopter icons in loadouts.
• Corrected previous equipment briefly appearing after switching loadout slots.
• Corrected profile tile hover state remaining stuck after navigation.
• Corrected squadmates briefly disappearing in Mode Briefing.
• Corrected subtitle opacity behaviour for speaker names.
• Corrected subtitle opacity settings so speaker names now correctly follow opacity adjustments.
• Corrected teammate lobby skin visual inconsistencies.
• Corrected tile navigation behaviour when navigating before content loads.
• Corrected truncated stat text for “Kills and damage assists on objective carriers.”
• Corrected uniform patch and icon mismatches.
• Corrected VCR-2 Mastery 40-49 badge display (Platinum now displays correctly).
• Corrected weekly challenge menu breaking when scrolling near the end.
• Corrected Winter Showdown End of Round overlay persisting into the next match lobby.
• Disabled map zooming while navigating submenus such as Pause or Customisation screens.
• Filtered incomplete lock-on warnings from the HUD.
• Improved Battle Royale inventory behaviour so opening the inventory now hides other HUD elements for better focus.
• Improved Claymore kill card attribution and location accuracy.
• Improved controller menu navigation to prevent unintended movement from minimal right-stick input.
• Improved front-end tile navigation and transitions.
• Improved HUD threat prioritisation so lock-ons without progress no longer display in the threat label.
• Improved minimap friendly arrow alignment.
• Improved profile navigation consistency.
• Improved threat prioritisation so lock-on state overrides painted state.
• Improved vehicle supply crate ping feedback.
• Improved world icon stability for moving soldiers.
• Prevented map zooming while in submenus.
• Prevented overlapping “Customise” and “Bio” windows.
• Prevented the mouse cursor from appearing briefly during deployment.
• Reduced nearby medics list from 6 to 4 in the downed state widget.
• Resolved an issue where cancelling a friendly vehicle ping could trigger twice.
• Resolved an issue where dying to a Claymore placed by a player currently in the deploy screen would not correctly attribute the elimination on the kill card.
• Resolved an issue where minimap air view distance did not apply correctly while inside air vehicles.
• Resolved an issue where pinging vehicles could incorrectly target their sabotage icon.
• Resolved an issue where re-pinging an enemy from a helicopter could place an unintended location ping.
• Resolved an issue where the request icon could overlap the player icon on the minimap.
• Resolved an issue where the Thermal Visor state was not correctly reflected in the PLD HUD screen.
• Resolved an issue where world icons for moving soldiers could jitter in certain situations.
• Resolved overlapping “Unlocked through Challenge” prompts on locked loadouts.
• Resolved Owned Items list remaining locked after switching filters.
• Resolved profile button focus remaining stuck across elements.
• Resolved typed chat text intermittently failing to appear.
• Restored AI bot naming presentation in Squad Manager.
• Restored Breakthrough Initiation visibility in Training Grounds.
• Restored Career Rank 75 icon visibility on HUD and End of Round.
• Restored challenge progress notifications at 25% and 75%.
• Restored Free Mode Trials UI and tags.
• Restored kill card icon display for affected free-to-play assets.
• Restored missing art for Free Mode Trial tiles.
• Restored missing icons for Seasonal Hardware Assignment group rewards.
• Restored Objectives Occlude Opacity behaviour to its intended value.
• Restored player character visibility after returning from End of Round.
• Restored Prestige Path completion notifications.
• Restored the Phalanx anti-air stationary weapon kill card icon.
• Restored unlock criteria visibility for the ‘Red Horse’ title.
• Restored Voice Recording Disclaimer.
• Restored VOIP disclaimer visibility for returning users.
• Updated BF Pro instant reward thumbnail for character Niklas Lang.
• Updated BF Pro tier-up notifications to correctly display BF Pro as the active path.
• Updated minimap squad member “sticky-to-edge” icons for improved clarity.

Settings:

• Corrected an issue preventing backing out of the Controller menu using Esc / B / Circle.
• Corrected an issue where a vibration preset description did not match its actual behaviour.
• Corrected an issue where Campaign setting changes made in the front end did not persist when launching a mission.
• Corrected an issue where changing Voice Recording Disclaimer settings could advance screens unexpectedly.
• Corrected an issue where controller mapping previews could overlap button and stick settings.
• Corrected an issue where crossplay option presentation differed for party members on PS5 matchmaking screen.
• Corrected an issue where HDR calibration changes applied immediately without saving.
• Corrected an issue where switching between controller and keyboard could affect Settings UI padding.
• Corrected an issue where the “Reset” button could fail to appear after clearing a keybind.
• Corrected an issue where the “Vertical Mouse Aim Ratio” description referenced vehicles instead of infantry.
• Corrected an issue where the front end could become unresponsive after reconnecting a powered-off controller on PlayStation 5.
• Corrected an issue where users could not bind joystick mappings.
• Corrected change-indicator behaviour in Controller Tuning after reset.
• Corrected incomplete deadzone warning text in PlayStation 5 Controller Tuning.
• Corrected Microphone Mode option descriptions in Voice Chat settings.
• Corrected platform terminology display in Gameplay Data Sharing settings.
• Corrected the Big Map description under Advanced HUD settings.
• Corrected the description for “Squad Revive Icons Opacity (Zoomed)” in HUD settings.
• Corrected vibration preset reset inconsistencies.
• Improved HDR calibration behaviour and brightness screen visibility.
• Improved Options auto-scroll behaviour when navigating between sub-options.
• Restored missing VOIP disclaimer description under Microphone Mode.
• Restored Push to Talk (PTT) option on PlayStation 5.

Single Player:

• Resolved an issue where “BF6 Trial” appeared in the Campaign playlist for premium accounts.

Portal:

• A new camera type called fixed. You can now place FixedCamera(s) in Godot and assign them an ObjID.
• Corrected an issue where Hosted servers could be missing from ‘Servers’ until refreshing.
• Corrected an issue where the Portal server browser list could overlap other buttons.
• Corrected an issue where the Recon class could become unusable if all gadgets were disabled except Throwables.
• Corrected Gauntlet mission cap behaviour.
• Corrected ModBuilder Transform and movement logic.
• Corrected multiple terrain texture inconsistencies on Marina.
• Corrected OnGameModeEnding event triggering.
• Corrected Premium flag display on select POIs.
• Corrected Spatial Editor asset issues.
• Removed the AAV-7A1 vehicle from the Portal restrictions tab. It is only featured in the campaign, so a Portal restriction is not relevant.
• Corrected the GRT-CPS DMR placeholder icon in the Web App Restrictions tab.
• Corrected vehicle seat event reporting.
• Corrected Verified Gauntlet layout scaling.
• Corrected Web App tooltip and subtitle inconsistencies.
• Corrected Winter mode mutator functionality on local servers.
• Enforced correct minimum player counts per team in Gauntlet experiences via the Web App.
• Improved experience save stability.
• Improved join flow so Experience info loads more reliably when joining password-protected servers.
• Improved Portal Log call stack reporting.
• Improved runtime Sound Effects and voice line parameter updates.
• Improved runtime spawn placement accuracy.
• Improved script safety to prevent long stalls from infinite loops.
• Improved validation handling so invalid Gauntlet array data no longer results in unintended game mode behaviour.
• Resolved a UI overlap issue where the compass could overlap the menu in HoH Parkour Extraction.
• Resolved an issue where selecting “Purchase” in Experience Details could redirect to an empty screen.
• Resolved an issue where selecting a featured Portal could incorrectly redirect users to Settings.
• Resolved an issue where the “Bot Spawn Type” mutator tooltip displayed incorrect terminology.
• Resolved an issue where the AH-6M ‘Little Bird’ was missing from the Spatial Editor.
• Resolved an issue where users could bypass the experience description requirement with the space bar, leading to an undefined error.
• Resolved an issue where users were unable to modify Experiences that were in the “In Review” state via the Web App.
• Restored functionality to the Cookies “Accept” and “Decline” buttons in the Web App.
• Restored missing map thumbnails in the Web App, including Fort Lyndon and multiplayer maps.
• Restored multiple Air Combat vehicles to the Restrictions tab in the Web App.
• Restored Restrictions tab visibility for Season 2 Batch 2 weapons.
• Restored the M18 Smoke Grenade to the Restrictions tab in the Web App.
• Restored Tickets per-kill multiplier functionality for AI.

Audio:

• Added a new Stereo Width setting in the Audio menu for supported configurations, allowing further spatial customisation.
• Adjusted offscreen boost on enemies to only apply at a slightly shorter range and not when moving away from the player.
• Corrected Japanese Voice Over talent naming in the credits.
• Implemented a new footstep mix strategy to improve clarity for close-to-mid range enemies in busy combat scenarios.
• Improved distance separation from close to mid-range in content. Making it slightly louder when close and obstructed, but reduced when far away and obstructed (especially when indoors).
• Improved distinction between indoor and outdoor footsteps at further ranges.
• Improved reload rattle sound effects for the B36A4.
• Increased close-to-mid range loudness for enemy ground vehicles, with additional close-range boosts.
• Increased priority on various footstep assets to reduce chances of performance-based culling on these assets.
• Introduced the Strix Raiders squad with four new playable soldiers and unique voice performances. Al Khatib returns from Single Player as a playable character with dedicated multiplayer voice lines.
• Reduced max range for audibility of players on different floors in buildings
• Reduced persistent dominance of distant jets in the mix to improve overall audio clarity during high air traffic scenarios.
• Refined stereo, 2.1, and headphone mixes for more granular and wider spatialisation.
• Refined enemy ground vehicle loudness tuning to avoid duplicated amplification in the mix.
• Refined distant jet audio tuning to avoid duplicated dominance adjustments in high-air-traffic scenarios.
• Resolved an issue on PlayStation 5 where skipping post-game removed music from the following pre-round.
• Resolved an issue where indoor firing sound effects could cut out too early.
• Restored Battle Pass tier completion audio cues and HUD notifications for affected Season 2 tiers.
• Restored correct collision audio for the Golf Cart.
• Restored default Sound System setting to “Auto” during first-time boot.
• Restored default Voice Chat Position Mode to “Auto.”
• Restored UI audio and background music behaviour when navigating store purchases rapidly.

Bots:

• Bot pilots now effectively drive and manoeuvre the AH-6M ‘Little Bird’.
• Bot pilots now effectively drive and manoeuvre the MH-350.
• Bot soldiers now operate the Golf Cart as both driver and passenger.
• Bot soldiers now operate the Quad Bike as both driver and passenger.
• Improved bot combat priorities to prevent bots from ignoring nearby enemy players and instead revive downed allies.
• Improved bot danger ping awareness to prevent them from trying to focus through solid surfaces.
• Improved bot handling for better turning behaviour when using anti-air ground vehicles.
• Improved bot helicopter survivability with more consistent flare usage to counter attacks.
• Improved bot pathfinding and navigation on Contaminated and Eastwood.
• Improved bot vehicle commitment, reducing unnecessary vehicle abandonment.
• Improved spectator camera behaviour when viewing bot without active targets.

REDSEC

New POI:

• Fort Lyndon expands with the addition of Defense Testing Complex 3, a newly accessible underground sector beneath the main battleground. This secret chemical testing facility introduces a network of tunnels that serve both as traversal routes and high-stakes close-quarters combat zones.
• The new sector features higher rarity loot opportunities, encouraging squads to push deeper underground and leverage improved equipment to dominate the darkness.

Player:

• Corrected an issue where Gauntlet Special Forces Operator challenges could appear unavailable.
• Corrected an issue where the Sentinel accolade could trigger incorrectly after the zone was exhausted.
• Resolved an issue that prevented the sabotage prompt from sometimes not appearing when next to a tank.
• Resolved an issue where Time Nudge could drop below zero when switching simulation rate from 30Hz to 60Hz during late-stage Battle Royale.
• Resolved a rare issue which could cause the camera to clip into the helicopter during the transition from the intro cinematic to gameplay in Battle Royale.

Vehicles:

Resolved an issue causing trailer ramps to get out of position when taking damage, and resolved the ramp clipping through destroyed vehicles.

Weapons:

• Resolved an issue where attachments gained from previously used weapon upgrade kits would be removed on the next upgrade tier in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue where loot cards would not update when looking at two of the same weapon with different upgrade paths in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue which caused an inactive weapon to not receive the intended magazine capacity change when upgrading through the inventory in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue causing LMG magazines to stick through safe doors found on the map in Battle Royale.

Gadgets:

• Resolved an issue where enemies were not pinged correctly while operating the Recon drone.
• Removed obsolete Cycle Gadget binding from the keybindings list.
• Resolved an issue that caused the Deploy Beacon Gadget to flash “No Ammo” on some occasions in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue that could cause T-UGS to have indefinite uptime under certain circumstances in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue that incorrectly indicated in the Javelin HUD that it could lock onto a world position.

Map:

• Resolved an issue causing Intel Caches not to have randomized spawns.
• Resolved an issue where Beacons would float above the ground at their initial spawn in Gauntlet.

Loot:

• Adjusted the airdrop container to prevent loot from clipping through the top of unopened crates.
• Lowered Air Strike spawns outside of the new POI, Defense Testing Complex 3, where the availability will be higher compared to other locations.
• Previously unopened Weapons Cache containers will now be unlocked as lootable containers with better loot once Missions are disabled in Battle Royale late-game situations.
• Resolved an issue causing Shotgun and Grenade loot spawns in the Police Van and Cargo Van to clip through geometry and float.
• Resolved an issue preventing players from looting the Javelin from the back of the Box Truck under certain circumstances.
• Resolved an issue that caused placed gadgets on top of chests and on landing spots of airdrop containers to be destroyed when the container landed or was opened in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue where Anti-Vehicle crates would not spawn in Battle Royale.
• Resolved instances of Anti-Vehicle Gear crates not spawning any loot once opened in Battle Royale.

Progression:

• Corrected Battle Royale sticker reward notification visibility for “Super Paratrooper.”
• Weekly “Open loot containers in Battle Royale” challenge now tracks safes correctly.

UI & HUD:

• Corrected an issue where the “Complete matches in any mode” challenge was incorrectly tagged as a Gauntlet challenge.
• Resolved an issue which prevented players from pinging items inside opened loot containers.
• Resolved an issue which could cause the Artillery Strike notification to appear red when a teammate used it.
• Resolved an issue where the UI of the Decryption Mission persisted after the beacon was destroyed by the ring, failing the mission in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue where mini-map icons could break in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue where the Mission HUD sometimes would show Synthesis mission objectives when no missions were available.

Audio:

• Adjusted Sabotage audio to be in line with the UI.
• Improved audio mix when in proximity to the ring in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue where no sound effects would play when downloading and picking up data drives in Battle Royale.
• Resolved an issue where the menu arrival sound could be heard when opening the commo-rose in Battle Royale.
• Slightly lowered the Gauntlet Qualifier Widget UI sound effects.
• Spot Ping has been updated to a more easily recognizable sound and Squad Ping has been slightly increased in volume.

“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: we’re building Skate with a long-term vision in mind,” wrote the studio. “This Early Access period is a huge part of that. It gives us the space to listen, learn, tweak and test – over and over – until we get things just right.”

The biggest addition to Skate with Season 3 will be the return of the Isle of Grom. While players might remember the island as being the tutorial area, its newer version will be larger, and better designed for free-form exploration. The newer parts of Grom will include massive gaps, and spillway action inspired by Skate 2 and 3. While the map will be released to all players on May 5th, skate.Pass Premium owners will be able to get to it much earlier – on March 10th. April 14th will see the map being available as part of a limited-time multi-week event before ultimately being opened up for everyone.

To access Grom from May 5th onwards, players will need to get their hands on an Isle of Grom Water Taxi day pass by spending 500 of their Rip Chips, which can be earned by just playing the game. These day passes will be valid for 24 hours from when you buy it, and can be used an unlimited number of times for that time frame before it expires. skate.Pass Premium owners, however, can skip the process and jump right into the island.

For character customization, Season 3 will also bring with it more branded items in the skate.Pass, including apparel by companies like Adidas. Players who prefer buying items à la carte will find more than 200 wardrobe items through the shop. While this catalog might see changes every now and then, the core idea behind it is to keep it growing over time.

It is worth noting that EA and Full Circle had previously noted that new additions to Skate’s map would be available to all players through game updates. Since then, the statement has been changed, as spotted by a ResetEra user, to remove mentions of new areas being available to everyone.

More details on content coming to Skate with Season 3 will be revealed in the coming days.

Skate was released across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox series X/S in September, and while initial player numbers were quite impressive, the free-to-play game has seen quite a drop-off in concurrent player counts on Steam. It garnered “Mixed” reviews on launch, and player opinion doesn’t seem to have changed much since then. At the time of publishing, the title saw a 24-hour peak of 2,646 concurrent players (via SteamDB), with 1,466 playing right now. For comparison’s sake, it saw an all-time peak of 134,901 players five months ago.

Since its release, Full Circle and publisher EA also released a cosmetics set based on Dead Space protagonist Isaac Clarke to the in-game store. It was priced at just over $40, and saw quite a bit of criticism due to looking quite shoddy.

Noting that Battlefield Studios—a collaboration between DICE, Criterion, Ripple Effect and Motive Studios—worked as a whole to ensure that the launch of Battlefield 6 went smoothly. Once all was said and done, the developers realized that they needed more time to work on the Season 2 content.

“We came out of the launch from Battlefield 6, and we don’t have the best of track records for launches, but it went pretty smooth this time around, so we’re happy for that one,” explained Girette. “But that launch also takes a lot of work and time. We saw the content we had planned for Season 2, and we wanted just to give that a little bit more time in the oven to polish things and make sure we hit the expectations that players have.”

As for the future, Girette noted that steps have been taken across various departments, from marketing to development, to make sure that next seasons are released as soon as the preceding season has ended on its planned date.

“Obviously, once you plan out seasons, there are a lot of things that come with that like the marketing work behind it, making sure the timings affect not only the game itself but many, many other things,” he said. “Future seasons as well. Absolutely, we need to make sure those hit as expected, and we have taken quite a lot of different steps in different departments to make sure that the players get the seasons immediately once the season is planned to end.”

The first batch of content for Battlefield 6 Season 2 will kick things off today with the release of the new Contaminated map along with a slate of new weapons and vehicles. There are also limited-time game modes: VL-7 Strike for the regular multiplayer, and Gauntlet Altered State and Synthesis for REDSEC.

March 17th will see the release of the Hagental Base map and a limited-time event dubbed Nightfall. These will be accompanied by a new sidearm, submachine gun, and a new land-based vehicle (the M1030-1 motorcycle). The third month of Season 2 will kick off with the limited-time Operation Augur game mode.

Battlefield Studios had published a community update last week discussing the various changes coming with the update. These include streamlined progression with a reduced emphasis on mode-specific challenges. REDSEC players will also earn more Career XP and Weapon XP during their time, and the update also brings weapon-specific improvements, including recoil compensation and general improvements to weapon handling.

Battlefield 6 is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. For more details, check out the cinematic that teases gas mask-based gameplay for the new Contagion map. Also, take a look at how Battlefield 6 was the best-selling game in the US in 2025.

Psychochemical smoke from Fort Lyndon is active on occasion, resulting in soldiers actively hallucinating (and being ripe for the picking). Gas masks will protect you from the effects, but also limit your field of view, so stay alert. Also going live with Extreme Measures, the first phase of Season 2, are two light helicopters, the AH-6 Little Bird and MH-350, which can venture through tunnels with terrifying ease.

Three new weapons are also on offer – the GRT-CPS DMR, VCR-2 Assault Rifle, and M121 A2 Machine Gun – alongside two new gadgets – the HTI-MK2 and 9K38 IGLA. On March 17th, Hagental Base debuts as a new map alongside the clearly-not-Splinter-Cell-inspired Nightfall event, the M1030-1 dirt bike, and the CZ3A1 submachine gun.

April 14th closes the season with Hunter/Prey, which includes updates to Portal, the LTV, and the limited-time Operation Augur. Strangely, there’s no mention of the returning Golmud Railway from Battlefield 4, but perhaps we’ll learn more in the coming months.

The post is a the latest iteration of the Xbox Excellence Awards, which was created last year to celebrate how players engaged with various releases on Xbox. The Store Rating category lists 2025 games with the best ratings on the Microsoft Store, with an added requirement of the title having at least 500 ratings. Player Engagements is about the average number of hours spent on a game by each player within the first six weeks of a game’s release. Daily Active Users celebrates titles, expansions or updates with the highest single-day active users throughout the year. And finally Units Sold is fairly self-explanatory.

Going down the lists, you’ll find many of the biggest releases of the year, from ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6, as well as award-winning RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Indie titles have also been well-represented, with games like Crime Scene Cleaner and Satisfactory making it into the lists. There also doesn’t seem to have been a singular genre to dominate the lists, since everything from sports games like EA Sports Madden NFL 26, to fantasy adventure life sims like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and even fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics are well represented.

Curiously, none of the games was present in all four of the categories. At most, we got to see titles like Borderlands 4 being able to make it on to three of them: Player Engagement, Daily Active Users and Units Sold. Even ARC Raiders, which has seen quite a bit of success, is only on the Units Sold and Daily Active Users lists.

Microsoft has also emphasized that the lists represent a diverse collection of games developed by studios of varying sizes. All in all, it represents 48 unique developers based out of 13 countries, with 24 publishers having had a hand in their release. 19 of the games were self-published. “Taken as a whole, it’s an encapsulation of development on Xbox – we want gaming to reach you wherever you are, and for the teams making those games to find you from wherever they are,” wrote the company.

Full list of games:

Store Rating:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Crime Scene Cleaner
• Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2
• Digimon Story: Time Stranger
• Dreamcore
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins
• Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
• Final Fantasy XVI
• Lies of P: Overture
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
• Little Nightmares III
• Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
• Minami Lane
• Mullet MadJack
• Poppy Playtime Chapter 4
• Satisfactory
• Silent Hill 2
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
• The First Berserker: Khazan

Player Engagement:

• Borderlands 4
• Digimon Story: Time Stranger
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins
• EA Sports College Football 26
• EA Sports FC 26
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
• Farm Together 2
• Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles
• Helldivers 2
• Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
• MLB The Show 25
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• NBA 2K26
• NHL 26
• Rust
• Satisfactory
• The First Berserker: Khazan

Daily Active Users:

• Arc Raiders
• Avowed
• Battlefield 6
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• DOOM: The Dark Ages
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Fortnite
• Forza Horizon 5
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Grounded 2
• Helldivers 2
• Marvel Rivals
• Minecraft
• NBA 2K26
• Rematch
• Roblox
• Rocket League
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

Units Sold:

• Arc Raiders
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Battlefield 6
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• EA Sports Madden NFL 26
• EA Sports College Football 26
• EA Sports FC 26
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Helldivers 2
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• MLB The Show 25
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• NBA 2K26
• PGA Tour 2K25
• Ready or Not
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• WWE 2K25

On the progression front, Battlefield 6’s challenges will be streamlined, with a reduced emphasis on mode-specific challenges. The daily sidearm challenge will also be removed from the regular rotation, and assists counting towards Daily Challenges will have expanded criteria. The Battle Pass progression will also be sped up through recalculations of Battle Pass Tokens being earned through Career XP. Battlefield: REDSEC players will also see some improvement thanks to an increase in Career XP and Weapon XP earn rates.

Moving on to weapon-specific improvements, recoil compensation is being made “fully consistent”, which in turn will lead to more reliable weapon handling. Automatic weapons have also seen adjustments to ensure that they all feel distinct depending on various combat distances. Player movement will start feeling more predictable and readable thanks to updates to acceleration curves, smoother vaulting and ladder transitions, and fixes to visual inconsistencies and other issues that might arise while traversing during close-quarters combat.

The audio systems across Battlefield 6 and Battlefield: REDSEC will also see upgrades, giving players more clear cues for movements and interactions. Overlapping sounds are also slated to be handled better, which will help players avoid having someone sneak up on them in the thick of battle.

Looking beyond the initial launch of Battlefield 6 Season 2, Battlefield Studios has reiterated the importance of testing through Battlefield Labs. While recent Labs sessions have involved testing the new Contaminated map that will kickstart Season 2, future playtests will focus on time-to-kill tuning. Battlefield Labs has also recently started testing another big map coming to Battlefield 6 in Season 2—Golmud Railway.

“Initial reactions have been positive, particularly around the overall scale and flow of the playspace,” wrote the developers. “Players noted that the map feels familiar while still offering something new, including improvements to the northern town area and added cover that better supports infantry movement and engagements.”

Battlefield: REDSEC players will also see some big changes coming in the form of Vehicle Keycards getting a cooldown. This, noted Battlefield Studios, was to ensure that a single team having multiple tanks rolling around should be a rare occurrence. Despite this, however, Vehicle Keycard rewards will still be available in meaningful ways thanks to the importance of tanks to the gameplay flow of the battle royale mode.

Battlefield 6 will be kicking off its second season soon, and Battlefield Studios recently released an intro cinematic trailer that focuses on the lore behind the new Contaminated map. The cinematic focused on the Pax Armata taking over a Cold War-era base, and NATO getting ready to take it back. Both sides will face some extra trouble thanks to the map being covered by hazardous gas, making gas masks a necessity.

Battlefield 6 is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Since its October release, the shooter has gone on to become the best-selling game in the US for 2025.

Long story short, the Pax Armata has seized a Cold War-era base from NATO, and the latter is going to war to get it back. The map itself looks to be on the larger side, with aerial combat and tanks rolling through the landscape, but the gas masks are the real key. A hazardous smoke is seemingly present throughout the map, necessitating the masks.

We’ll need to wait and see how extensive the mechanic is, but it was tested in Battlefield Labs (and codenamed “Contaminated”) before release. We’ll have to wait until later this week to learn more, but expect to see new weapons, attachments, and other additions.

And that’s only for the first phase of Season 2. Battlefield Studios has confirmed that fan-favorite Battlefield 4 map, Golmud Railway, will return at a later point.

Battlefield 6 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Despite player count dips post-launch, it was the best-selling game in the United States last year and a huge success for publisher Electronic Arts.

Battlefield 6 contributed to most of the net bookings, though Apex Legends and EA Sports FC also saw some growth. The latter saw “increased high single digits year-over-year in Q3, excluding the benefit of deluxe edition content timing, driven by strength in Ultimate Team and FC Mobile.” Meanwhile, Respawn’s long-running battle royale shooter was “up double-digits year-over-year driven by innovative new features and events.”

Of course, Battlefield 6 is the star. Not only did it emerge as the best-selling shooter of last year – if selling more than seven million units within three days didn’t tip you off – but it also elevated the franchise to new engagement heights.

Following the announcement of its acquisition by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Affinity Partners, and Silver Lake, Electronic Arts won’t host a quarterly conference call to discuss its earnings. The publisher’s board approved the $55 billion deal, which will close sometime between April and June. However, US Congress members recently requested the Federal Trade Commission investigate the same, which could lead to impediments. Stay tuned for updates in the meantime.

Speaking to PressBoxPR, Nesmith, “I think they should probably try to make a more Bethesda-style game, to be honest. I think Mass Effect players are dying for an open-world science fiction game that has that kind of flavor to it. A big, open-world, content-heavy game? I think Mass Effect players would be going nuts for that. But I’m a former Bethesda guy, so I’m probably going to say that about a lot of things.”

For clarity’s sake, that was only one of the suggestions. Others included more modern gameplay, which Nesmith says “always felt dusty and old.”

“I would hope that they would try to just take their lore and make a modern game of it. One of the knocks on Mass Effect that I would have is that they always felt like they were a generation behind. I know, they had very cool characters, they had great stories, but the gameplay always felt dusty and old. It just wasn’t there. If they can take the things that they were so good at and do it in a more modern sense, I think that they’d have a fantastic game.”

There’s also, shock of shocks, Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios’ critically and commercially acclaimed role-playing game. “I think taking lessons from Baldur’s Gate 3 would fit Mass Effect really well. They already had that kind of style in their games, and Larian Studios had the advantage of having produced the Divinity and Divinity 2 games. They were able to use that engine for it.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Nesmith cited Baldur’s Gate 3 as worth studying. In the same interview, he felt that Bethesda could learn a thing or two about meaningful choices from it for the next Fallout.

As for the next Mass Effect, it will likely offer branching choices and companions with extensive storylines who could like you or hate your guts. After all, that was a staple of their older titles, including Dragon Age: Origins. How BioWare will innovate on this, however, while updating its gameplay for a more contemporary audience, is the real question.

We’ll be waiting a while to find out, but development is seemingly making progress. BioWare recently posted a job listing for a Production Director to act as a “high-impact leader” for the title. Head here to learn more.