Summary
- EA will detail its upcoming Battlefield community testing program on February 3, at 8am PDT / 5pm CET.
- The initiative will offer some fans an early chance to try the next entry in the franchise, tentatively dubbed Battlefield 6 by fans.
A Battlefield community testing program is in the works and will be detailed on February 3, publisher Electronic Arts has announced. The newly confirmed initiative will offer some Battlefield fans a chance to try the next installment in the franchise ahead of time.
EA's FPS series has struggled with launches in recent history. Battlefield 2042 debuted in 2021 with numerous technical issues, and Battlefield 5 didn't fare much better three years earlier.
Battlefield 6 Having a Mostly New Development Team Could Be a Blessing or a Curse
Recent reports suggest that Battlefield 6's development team has a lot of fresh faces, with this being an ambitious make-or-break approach from DICE.
In an apparent attempt to avoid such a scenario this time around, the next Battlefield game will have an early community testing program, which was initially confirmed back in September 2024. Following up on that plan, EA has announced that more details about the initiative will be shared on Monday, February 3, starting at 8am PDT / 5pm CET. The main benefit of holding an extensive playtest would be to generate a large volume of user feedback that could help developers identify and fix any major issues ahead of the game's full-fledged release.
Battlefield 6 Has At Least 3 Developers
Back in September 2024, EA EVP Vince Zampella—who's presently in charge of the Battlefield franchise—said that DICE has been internally testing the next series installment for around a year at the time. The project, tentatively called Battlefield 6 among the fandom, is being developed by at least three studios. DICE is working on the game's multiplayer component, while the Dead Space remake developer EA Motive is in charge of the single-player campaign. UK-based Criterion Games, best known for its work on the Need for Speed franchise, is playing the role of a support studio.
In light of the upcoming Battlefield 6 playtest, it would appear that the game is currently entering its final stretch of development. However, whether it will actually launch in 2025 remains uncertain. While it's already set to become the longest-developed mainline Battlefield entry, that's par for the course in the current industry climate, as AAA game development cycles have been growing longer across the board for years now. Given EA's historical tendency to release new Battlefield games around the holiday season, the upcoming title could continue that pattern, launching in either late 2025 or Q4 2026.
More Battlefield 6 news will likely emerge after the playtest, once developers evaluate the feedback and determine how much work remains. Many past Battlefield games have been announced circa late spring and early summer, making this the likeliest time frame for an official reveal, especially if EA is aiming for a fall release.
