The Battlefield franchise is almost ready to take another swing, and it very well might be its biggest swing ever. After competing with Call of Duty for an entire generation, Call of Duty eventually ran away with the FPS crown while Battlefield felt like it was dying a slow and painful death.
The last few Battlefield titles have missed their mark and failed to make a major impact on the gaming industry. Many Battlefield fans would still prefer to play the likes of Battlefield 3 or 4 rather than newer games like Battlefield V or Battlefield 2042. The general gaming audience doesn’t really care about Battlefield at all, but that may be changing soon.
Over the last couple of weeks, EA has been hard at work revealing more and more information about Battlefield 6 and it has become clearer with each announcement that this isn’t going to be a standard modern Battlefield game. There’s a full single-player campaign, multiplayer emphasizing the classic Battlefield class and vehicle system with more advanced map destruction, a revamped BF Portal, and even a full-blown standalone free-to-play battle royale.
It seems fairly evident at this point that EA is trying to completely overhaul and revamp the modern Battlefield brand with Battlefield 6, in the same way that Activision did with Call of Duty and Modern Warfare 2019. The first step is getting people excited. That step can be checked off. The next step is validating that excitement by letting the now excited fans try it out in a beta.
The first Battlefield 6 beta will begin on August 7 for early access participants and go until August 10. For people without early access, it will begin on August 9. Preloading for the Battlefield 6 beta will become available on August 4 8AM PST/11 AM EST.
What platforms will the preload be available on?
#Battlefield6 Open Beta pre-load starts August 4th at 8:00 AM PT / 15:00 PM UTC on PC (EA App, Steam, Epic), PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X|S.
Play to earn exclusive rewards 👀 pic.twitter.com/QDt5LxfCSw
— Battlefield Bulletin (@BFBulletin) July 31, 2025
There will be some rewards exclusive the beta testing here in August. Some will only be available in weekend 1 and some will only be available in weekend 2. Here’s the breakdown:
|
Weekend 1 (August 9-10) |
Weekend 2 (August 14-17) |
|---|---|
|
Seeker Soldier Skin |
War Machine Vehicle Skin |
|
All Terrain Soldier Skin |
Bat Company Dog Tag |
|
Dominion Weapon Package |
Striking Distance Weapon Package |
|
Lights Out Player Card Background |
|
|
“And More” (graphic shows a weapon charm/gun buddy) |
Battlefield is not a franchise known for having a huge competitive scene. The esports impact of Battlefield 6 should be quite small if that tradition continues with this game. There is one aspect of Battlefield 6 that does create the opportunity for something interesting in the world of esports and that is Firestorm.
Firestorm is Battlefield 6’s free-to-play battle royale mode. Battle royales have an interesting history with esports. Games like Fortnite failed horrendously to establish themselves as prominent and respected esports, but other games like PUBG and Warzone while not tier 1 esports, have managed to solidify themselves with dedicated competitive fans and a competent professional scene. If Firestorm is a good game, it should be able to compete with the likes of Warzone and possibly (but probably not) PUBG.
Can Firestorm have a competitive scene? Absolutely. Can Firestorm steal top players from Warzone if it’s good enough? Probably. That would be where the real esports impact of Battlefield 6 lies: in Firestorm.