By all reasonable metrics, the Battlefield 6 beta was a resounding hit. Not only is BF6 already very fun based on the handful of maps and modes we got our hands on, but the two-weekend playtest period broke records for the series on Steam.
The beta wound down this morning with players clamoring for its October 10 launch day, but not without reservations. Among longtime fans, the loudest criticism surrounded map size: The beta lacked a truly big map that captured classic Battlefield chaos.
DICE lead producer David Sirland has been the one to field these complaints over the last few weeks. After the first beta weekend, Sirland assured folks that ‘large maps exist’ in BF6, but the studio chose to test small ones to show it could handle the “full-octane” chaos of CoD.
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Then, well, it added yet another small map in weekend two, reinforcing concerns that the full map pool of nine will prioritize CoD run ‘n gunning over Battlefield’s traditional spaced-out firefights.
“That’s not how Battlefield should be,” X user Blasts4Satan replied to Sirland on August 15. “Listen to the veteran players, not the CoD fanboys. This is y’all’s last chance and it’s already looking a little too much like the other game in the room.”
We are very much looking back at our past modern incarnations when it comes to pacing. I’d urge everyone to go and play some smaller/medium map BF3 and BF4 to get a good example of the intensity curve.It is slower and more deliberate on the larger maps, as it was in the past.August 18, 2025
Returning to the thread days later to reply, Sirland reaffirmed that BF6’s pacing is on the same trajectory as the games it’s most inspired by, Battlefield 3 and 4.
“We are very much looking back at our past modern incarnations when it comes to pacing. I’d urge everyone to go and play some smaller/medium maps in BF3 and BF4 to get a good example of the intensity curve,” Sirland wrote. “It is slower and more deliberate on the larger maps, as it was in the past.”
It’s true that close-quarters, high-intensity maps are nothing new for the series: BF3 and BF4 had loads of smaller, linear meat grinder maps that folks remember fondly. I remember the disappointment when the only map available in the 2011 BF3 console beta (the PC version got an extra, larger map) was Operation Metro, a cramped trek through grass and tunnels that was unfriendly to vehicles.
Battlefield 3: Operation Metro Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer (E3) – YouTube
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At the time, I thought BF3 didn’t feel much like Battlefield, but I warmed to it at launch after playing Caspian Border: a wide valley of rolling hills, military compounds, and jet runways that checked every Battlefield box.
Still, Sirland repeatedly saying “large maps exist” and pointing to a 14-year-old game for proof doesn’t inspire much confidence. If large maps were a focus of BF6, you’d think we’d know what they look like by now. It’s reasonable to conclude that the BF6 beta was BF Studios debuting the primary identity of the game: Pretty and destructible maps, cramped gunfights, and sometimes vehicles.
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