Battlefield 6(if that is indeed what thenextBattlefieldgame is called) is getting closer and closer, and details on the game have to be on the horizon if the game is going to make its 2021 release date.
One of the most anticipated details aboutBattlefield 6is whether or not it’s going to include a Battle Royale mode. Its most direct competition,Call of Duty, has an incredibly popular BR mode that’s remained huge for a year now, and many are wondering ifBattlefieldis going to try and compete after abandoning its last BR mode, Firestorm, so quickly.
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FOR: A Free-To-Play Element
One very big argument for including a BR mode inBattlefield 6is that it would likely be a free-to-play portion related toBattlefield 6, much likeWarzoneis free but related toModern Warfareand nowBlack Ops: Cold War. A free-to-playBattlefieldBR would definitely bring in more players than it would if it was only playable to those that purchased the game, and could easily be monetized with cosmetics and Battle Passes just like most other BRs.
Making this afree-to-play BRwould allow players to tentatively give it a shot, especially after some players have lost some confidence in the franchise after the last two releases. It could not only act as a standalone experience that players could enjoy without the entire game, but it could also act as a demo for the mainBattlefieldrelease, as well.
FOR: It Has Potential To Be A Unique BR
There aren’t any other shooters out there quite likeBattlefield.The destruction, the gunplay, and the vehicle play all combine to make theBattlefieldfranchise a very unique blend, and it’s a blend that none of thenumerous other Battle Royale gameshave managed to capture yet. Other BRs have some of these features:Warzonehas some vehicles, for instance.PUBGhas weapons that can be customized throughout the match with different attachments, whileWarzonehas loadouts players can grab with completely custom weapons.
But none of these other BRs have hit the exact combination of notes that aBattlefieldgame does, and that aBattlefield BRcould achieve. Imagine aBattlefieldBR with a city, much like the one in Warzone, except where each building can be completely leveled, turned into nothing more than rubble. On a smaller scale, walls could be blown open to breach a room with enemies inside, or blown open as an escape route to parachute out.
Helicopters could make strafing runs, firing minigun rounds through windows at a team hiding inside, while swooping around to dodge rounds fired from tanks below. There’s so much potential for the kind of chaotic, emergent gameplay that theBattlefieldfranchiseis known for, and all of that can be even more adrenaline-producing in a BR where dying is much more punishing than in a regular match of Conquest.
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AGAINST: Focus Needs To Be On Traditional Modes
All of that being said, the thing the nextBattlefieldgame needs to nail, more than anything else, is the more traditional modes that the game is known for, namely Conquest, especially withBattlefield6’s rumored increased player count. That is what theBattlefieldfranchise is known for more than anything else, and it needs to absolutely sing, or it isn’t going to matter how good the BR is. The main focus for the majority of players that pick up aBattlefieldgame is that they can load into a Conquest server with their friends, and have a good time playing on a few different maps.
A BR might be a nice distraction from that, or act as a change of pace if someone in the group is getting burnt out, but for most of the hardcore fanbase, Conquest is going to be where it’s at. A BR will bring in some other players that aren’t interested in Conquest whatsoever, but they aren’t going to be the main consumer base anyways; they’ll just be the extra on top. Build the fundamentals of aBattlefieldgame first, because if a BR takes away from that, it’s all going to crumble.
AGAINST: Would Need Constant Updates In Order To Stay Relevant
Every BR that stays relevant receives a ton of meaningful updates each year. Some are slower about these updates than others, but all of these games do enough to keep a large portion of players from getting burnt out doing the same thing all of the time. Most of the time, these games format theselarge-scale updates in Seasons, where new mechanics are introduced every few months and the Battle Pass resets. There are also generally some seasonal events, usually around Halloween, winter holidays, and Valentine’s Day, just to name a few.
to stay relevant, aBattlefieldBR would need to receive these kinds of constant updates that its competition does. This would require a huge dev team responsible solely for the BR, which would possibly take resources away from a team focused on creating new multiplayer content in other aspects of the game. This might not be a huge problem if EA and DICE give the proper resources to manage this, ensuring there’s enough development power for both, but that would mean betting on the BR being a big enough success to warrant a separate team all its own. That would be a huge gamble, considering how quickly a lot of BRs come and go, includingBattlefield 5’s Firestorm.
All in all, aBattlefieldBR that leans into the mechanics that the franchise is known for to be amazing. It could be a BR unlike anything players have seen before, carving out its own section of the BR market instead of being a hollow copy of another popular BR. But at the same time, a BR cannot take resources away from making sure the base game ofBattlefield 6is amazing; the series needs to hit this game out of the park in order for fans to regain faith in the franchise.
Battlefield 6is currently in development, expected to release this year for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
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