Don’t forget: Battlefield 6’s beta will open up again very soon and it’s bringing new content to justify a return visit.
EA’s decision to put all its eggs in the Battlefield 6 basket remains a very risky one, but the game’s announcement and early multiplayer footage made a strong first impression.
That wouldn’t have mattered if the open beta, that took place over the weekend, was a dud, but we had a genuinely fun time with it and came away feeling like Battlefield 6 could finally be the Call Of Duty competitor EA clearly wants it to be.
We’re not the only ones that were impressed, as the beta was pulling in record breaking numbers even during early access. So we’re curious to see if the second beta session will prove more popular, especially as it’s promising not to just be a repeat of the first one.
When is the second Battlefield 6 beta?
As a reminder, the second Battlefield 6 beta runs from Thursday, August 14 at 9am BST to Sunday, August 18 at 9am BST and this time there’s no early access period. It’ll be open to everyone from the get-go.
While the second beta will retain all the maps and gameplay modes featured in the first beta, it will also include one new map, called Empire State, and two new modes: Rush and Squad Deathmatch.
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The inclusion of Rush should make long-time fans happy as this is a beloved mode that debuted in the first Battlefield: Bad Company game and has one team trying to arm and destroy targets with explosive charges while another team defends them.
It’s been popular enough to make frequent appearances throughout the series, but was notably absent in Battlefield 2042, which no doubt contributed to all the many complaints against the game.
It’s far too early for EA and the various studios working on Battlefield 6 to rest on their laurels, considering the full game isn’t out until October 10, but they’re bound to be pleased with the reception so far.
Over 9,000 people were queuing to participate in the Steam version of the beta before it even began and while that number has dropped now that it’s temporarily ended, SteamDB shows there are still nearly three thousand people patiently waiting for the beta to open up again.
Despite Battlefield 6 proving more popular on Steam than Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6, Activision allegedly isn’t threatened by Battlefield 6, as it claims the company is confident in the performance of this year’s entry, already revealed as Black Ops 7.
While Black Ops 7 lacks an exact release date, new entries tend to launch in the autumn, so it could very well drop within just a few weeks of Battlefield 6.
Mike Ybarra, former president of Activision subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment, thinks differently, however, going so far as to say that Battlefield 6 will ‘boot stomp’ Call Of Duty this year and the series will be forced to improve in order to compete.
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