Battlefield 6 is on the way, and the hype is palpable.
Battlefield 6 was fully revealed at an event last week, showcasing an aggressive return to what Battlefield does best. Class-based squad-oriented massive scale combat, environmental destruction and deformation, vehicular chaos and grounded warfare gives Battlefield 6 its best chance yet at taking on Call of Duty — and we're learning more and more about the game as time goes by.
It's no secret that predecessor Battlefield 2042 was a tad maligned. The game's map designs and structural changes alienated a lot of core Battlefield fans, as EA lost grip of exactly who Battlefield was for and what it ultimately is. One aspect of 2042 that I heavily disliked in particular was its blanket crossplay between console and PC platforms.
The differences between inputs across console and PC creates imbalances in different combat situations. PC players can turn faster without sacrificing accuracy, since mice have no deadzones or ramp up and ramp down time vs. joysticks when it comes to movement. However, console and controller players are granted aim assist, which can help hint at enemy positions players might otherwise not be able to see, while also boosting accuracy.
Logically, players would be separated fully by input to make things fair for players across both inputs. Companies favor crossplay because it's cheaper to maintain a single pool of players, at least on paper. But is the degraded user experience worth the trade off? Increasingly, publishers are thinking "perhaps not."
To that end, Battlefield 6 is introducing a new "preferred" crossplay system which will prioritize players by input. For example, Xbox and PlayStation controller players will be pooled into matches initially, and will only start mixing in mouse and keyboard PC players if absolutely necessary — and vice versa.
As explained by Battlefield 6 producer Alexia Christofi, crossplay will be a fallback option, if there aren't enough regional players present to create a match with good latency.
Eyy not quite, it's crossplay on or off - but if crossplay is on we treat it as console preferred crossplay, so we'll try and matchmake you with others playing on console before falling back to full crossplay if we can't find you a match with only/mostly console players.August 2, 2025
In Battlefield 2042, games would be horrific compositions of PC and console players, creating vastly imbalanced matches where mouse accuracy and turning speed would win out in most combat situations, particularly in Battlefield 2042's very open, very flat map designs.
You could turn off crossplay, but since the setting was buried and hidden away in the settings, most players didn't know it even existed. The pool of players with crossplay turned off was miniscule, meaning that matches simply wouldn't be able to find enough players to populate a server with this setting turned on.
This preferential system will hopefully be the best of both worlds, ensuring rapid matchmaking speeds while also ensuring that most the players in the game are using the same inputs.
Skill-based matchmaking in Battlefield 6
Another aspect of controversy in modern military shooters pertains to skill-based matchmaking. In earlier versions of Call of Duty, skill-based matchmaking was largely randomized, but in more modern versions, the system prioritizes players with similar skillsets.
Microsoft and Activision maintain that skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) leads to longer sessions and better user satisfaction according to their research, but the discourse focuses on the homogenous feel these kinds of games seem to create. If the system is working well, then every match requires maximum focus and plays out with the exact same feel potentially — lacking the dynamic feel of older versions.
To that end, people have been curious how SBMM will work in Battlefield 6. Since Battlefield games are larger scale with 32 vs 32, finding 64 players with similar skill is probably unlikely.
EA says Battlefield 6 matchmaking will focus on: - Ping- Player's location - Server availability - And some skill factor The matchmaking factors will vary based on each game mode and player counts. pic.twitter.com/CjclVJm8k1August 3, 2025
Per CharlieINTEL above, Battlefield 6 will prioritize ping above all when forming matches. Given the size and scale of Battlefield matches, ensuring that players are all situated as closely as possible to the servers will create the most ideal experiences. Vaguely, EA says that skill will factor in in varying degrees based on game mode and player counts.
If I had to guess, smaller-scale close-quarters combat modes will probably prioritize skill a little higher than the more chaotic modes. I feel like even with some skill-based matchmaking, the lack of killstreaks and focus on team-oriented play in Battlefield 6 can help offset disparities in skill. Good strategies and team work count for a lot in Battlefield, owing to the ability to heal and revive team mates, and also crew vehicles.
Either way, Battlefield 6 is shaping up nicely. EA has earned itself a lot of doubt and scepticism over the years, following failures of games like Battlefield 2042, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, among others. It would be nice to see Battlefield deliver some serious competition to Call of Duty, which has gone all out with the dumbest cartoon skins imaginable recent months, earning itself some backlash of its own.
Battlefield 6 launches on October 10, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PS5, and hits Open Beta on August 9.
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