Battlefield 6 confirms release date, open beta, maps, and multiplayer trailer

EA has officially revealed the details of Battlefield 6’s multiplayer, alongside all its modes, classes, and the new version of Portal.

Thursday had two big reveal events, one being a new Nintendo Direct and the other the unveiling of Battlefield 6’s multiplayer. However, the video game world being what it is, almost everything from both showcases had leaked out already and was known about long in advance.

Battlefield 6, in particular, seems to find it impossible to keep a secret, and has been leaking news ever since it was announced, with EA themselves accidentally revealing that its release date is October 10.

Gameplay footage has been appearing online for months now but there’s been very little official video of the game, until now. Thanks to an hours long livestream the floodgates have been opened and not only can you now watch the game being played for real, but EA has confirmed concrete details about the multiplayer maps and modes.

Relatively little was shown about the story campaign, but EA has revealed it’s set in the year 2027, when the world is ‘on the edge of chaos’. Which will no doubt be a stark contrast to how it is in reality at the moment. As you can imagine, the plot is loath to paint the US in a bad light and instead portrays European countries as leaving NATO, while ‘the US and its allies grapple with the fallout’.

The central bad guy is a private military corporation called Pax Armata, which is presumably looking to take over the world, or something.

Most fans don’t care much about the story mode but they will be interested to learn about the headline new feature called the ‘Kinesthetic Combat System’. Kinaesthetic, to use the UK spelling, refers to being aware of the position and movement of your body parts, and in Battlefield 6 the new system is an attempt to more realistically simulate controlling a virtual person.

The examples given are mounting weapons in order to reduce recoil and pulling injured teammates out of the line of fire to heal them.

EA has also talked about a new and improved version of Portal, the mod-like tool introduced in Battlefield 2042, which allows you to create your own content that can later be accessed as ‘Community Experiences’.

What are the classes in Battlefield 6?

The class system in Battlefield 6 has been a matter of some concern for fans, since any class can now use any weapon, which seems to reduce the differences between each type.

For now, EA has confirmed that the four classes are Assault, Recon, Support, and Engineer – each with class-specific gadgets, weapons, and abilities.

Assault can carry an extra primary weapon; Engineers are the only ones that can repair vehicles, equipment, and weapon placements; Recon can use laser designators to guide missiles to a target; and Support can lay down cover and heal, as well as use a light machine gun.

What maps are in Battlefield 6?

Battlefield 6 will launch with nine multiplayer maps, set in five different theatres of war. All will make extensive use of destruction effects, as you can see in the gameplay footage.

• Siege of Cairo – an urban warfare map, focusing on infantry and tank battles.
• Iberian Offensive – another infantry-orientated map, this one set on Gibraltar with a lot of winding streets.
• Liberation Peak – set around a snowy mountain in Tajikistan, this one is set to be a favourite for aerial combat.
• Empire State – an infantry-only map set in Brooklyn, New York. Spider-Man is probably not involved.
• Operation Firestorm – the return of this classic Battlefield 3 map, set on a burning oil field, also leaked out before the reveal.
• Saints Quarter – another infantry-only map, this one set in Gibraltar’s Old Town.
• New Sobek City – set in a construction yard in the suburbs of Cairo, this one features a lot of helicopter action.
• Mirak Valley – the largest map, including every vehicle possible and lots of destruction.
• Manhattan Bridge – another close quarters map, although you do get to use helicopters and witness some particularly spectacular destruction effects.

What game modes does Battlefield 6 have?

As well as the story mode and Portal, there are multiple multiplayer modes in Battlefield 6 at launch, including old favourites and one brand new one.

There’s the signature Conquest mode, of course, as well as fan favourites Breakthrough and Rush. You also get the faster paced King of the Hill, Domination, and Payload for the smaller maps.

Also included are Team Deathmatch and Squad Deathmatch, while the new mode is called Escalation and has two teams trying to capture strategic control points.

Unlike the maps, EA has not been definitive about whether that’s all the modes, so there may be others by the time you get to launch.

How can you join the Battlefield 6 open beta?

The beta details also leaked before the reveal but it’s now confirmed that are two open betas in August.

The first runs from August 9 to 10, but you can start on August 7 if you get an invite by watching streamers on Twitch, who can give you a code (unless you signed up for Battlefield Labs before July 31, in which case you don’t need one).

The second open beta runs from August 14 to 17 and that has no restrictions at all, with EA describing the whole thing as Battlefield’s biggest open beta ever. There’s more information here, including the PC specs required.

Battlefield 6 will launch on October 10 for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

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