The second installment of Battlefield 6’s open beta kicked off on Thursday, August 14, adding the classic Rush game mode, Squad Deathmatch mode, and a fourth map, Empire State, set in Brooklyn, New York.
Cale Hunt, Battlefield Enthusiast Since 2002
This week: I’m getting in as much Battlefield 6 playtime as possible before the open beta ends and we all have to wait until October 10 to play again. It’s fun. Really fun.
With four days of playtesting at our disposal — the second open beta weekend wraps up on August 17 — I’m getting in as much time as possible before the game goes dark and we must all wait until the official launch on October 10, 2025.
The hype for Battlefield 6 has been more than I ever imagined. Six days ago, at the end of the first open beta period, the game hit an all-time peak of 521,079 players on Steam alone. Despite being a beta version of the game, those numbers significantly bested Call of Duty’s all-time player count.
Not only were gamers clamoring to get into the game, but Battlefield 6 also racked up more than 856,000 viewers on Twitch, which put Battlefield 2024’s all-time high of 346,000 to shame.
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At the time of writing this piece on the morning of Friday, August 15, the Battlefield 6 open beta has more than 322,000 players on Steam. That player count will climb by at least one more as soon as I’m finished with work for the day.
Unfortunately, it seems that some of the hype generated by Battlefield 6’s explosive multiplayer reveal has cooled as the second open beta period sets in. A vocal minority, as I’m sure they love being called, has taken to Reddit and X to decry some of the game’s core features.
Battlefield 6 is receiving heat for its Rush game mode
Whereas the first weekend of the Battlefield 6 open beta lacked any sort of demolition gameplay, the return of Rush has caused a divide among the player base.
Rush, a Battlefield staple, involves one team attempting to arm and destroy specific objectives before moving on to the next sector. The other team, of course, must defend their M-COM stations from being armed with explosives.
First introduced in Battlefield: Bad Company as Gold Rush, the game mode focuses on smaller, infantry-based gameplay. I spent a lot of time playing Rush in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, where it was 12v12 on console and 16v16 on PC.
There was a ton of excitement for the return of Rush in Battlefield 6 … at least until players got a real taste of its implementation in the new game. One Reddit thread with 20,000+ upvotes decries the return to a 12v12 Rush on all platforms.
Seriously, they’re leaning too hard into courting the Call of Duty crowd at the expense of the battlefield DNA and it’s frustrating asf
Corn_The_Nezha (Reddit)
“Mode is dead,” reads another reply. These comments arrived before the Battlefield 6 dev team implemented changes on August 15.
MCOM explosive timers are now set at 30 seconds rather than 45, giving defenders less time to react. Defender respawns have also been fixed at 12 seconds, rather than the original variable between 6 and 12 seconds.
It’s still a bit early to say how players react to these recent changes. However, it does seem like those deriding the game mode have forgotten what Rush was like in previous titles.
Some players feel that Battlefield 6 has abandoned the series’ core identity
Other players have stated that Battlefield 6 doesn’t feel like a Battlefield game. On the official Battlefield subreddit, one thread titled “Why abandon your game’s identity?” caught my eye.
battlefield from r/Battlefield/comments/1mqeu2r/why_abandon_your_games_identity
The OP suggests that Battlefield always “defined itself as a slower-paced shooter among a sea of twitchy, fast-paced games. […] Why then are you so keen on throwing that away and copycatting Call of Duty?”
The thread, which is nearing 1,000 replies, contains a mix of opinions. One user points out that “Battlefield has never really been that slow” and has “always been about chaos more than anything.”
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Another reply from someone who “grew up on the Battlefield games” states that they’re enjoying Battlefield 6, and that the “hate for it is insane.”
There are countless other examples floating around on social media of players hating on the game. As someone who has played Battlefield since 1942, I tend to agree with those who are providing positive feedback or who are simply too busy enjoying the game to comment.
I’ve been playing Battlefield for 23 years, and I’m having a blast with Battlefield 6
Let me quickly get this out of the way: Just because I’m enjoying the game doesn’t mean that you have to like it. With that out of the way, I can say that Battlefield 6, even in such a limited scope as an open beta, definitely feels like a Battlefield game.
There are a few areas that could use some work before the full release. That’s what an open beta is all about. Classes might need a rebalance, as Support currently feels very powerful with health and ammunition.
Map blocking and sizing, especially in Rush, needs some work to create a bit of extra breathing room, but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as many are making it out to be. I’ll hold final judgment until I see the other five maps that DICE has promised at release.
Bottom line? Battlefield 6 is delivering the chaotic gameplay that I know and love. Sound design is outstanding. Gone are specialists with cheesy taglines. I don’t need to have insane reflexes to score high. And it still requires intelligent squad play in order to be successful. Yes, it definitely feels like Battlefield.
I continue to put countless hours into Battlefield 4 and Battlefield 1 despite the launch of two newer titles. That seems about to change. As some friends and I remarked last night as we debated whether or not we had time for one more round, Battlefield 6 is shaping up to be the new go-to title.
