All vikisReception and Reviews
Critics rated Battlefield 6 well: 83 on OpenCritic with 89% recommending it, and 83 on Metacritic for PS5 (84 on Xbox Series X, 82 on PC), as of Nov 8, 2026. Reviewers praised the multiplayer and called the campaign its weakest part, while Steam players turned to "Mixed" over Season 1's maps and monetization.
Critics rated Battlefield 6 well: 83 on OpenCritic, with 89% of critics recommending it, and 83 on Metacritic for PS5, as of Nov 8, 2026. In IGN's multiplayer review it was "one of the best multiplayer shooters of the year". Almost every review split the game in two: the multiplayer was praised as a return to classic Battlefield, and the single-player campaign was called the weakest part. Players were harder on it than critics after launch, over the first season's small maps, its battle royale and its cosmetics.
Quick facts
| OpenCritic | 83 Top Critic Average, 89% recommend, 172 critic reviews |
| Metacritic, PS5 | 83 from 71 critics; user score 6.7 from 2,228 ratings |
| Metacritic, Xbox Series X | 84 from 16 critics |
| Metacritic, PC | 82 from 64 critics |
| Review embargo | Oct 9, 2025, the day before launch |
| Steam user reviews | "Mixed" since late Oct 2025, as press reported |
| Biggest award | Best Audio Design, The Game Awards 2025 |
Sources: OpenCritic, Metacritic PS5, Xbox and PC, all read Nov 8, 2026; EA, Dec 12, 2025.
What were Battlefield 6's review scores?
Reviews went live on Oct 9, 2025, the day before launch, and most outlets scored it in the 80s. OpenCritic's average of 83 puts it in the 91st percentile of games it has scored. In launch week it stood at 84 with 92% recommending; it has settled since as later reviews came in. On Metacritic the console versions sit a point either side of the PC: 84 on Xbox Series X and 82 on PC. GamesRadar+ noted at launch that the Metacritic score was the best a Battlefield had had in years, but still below Battlefield 3. How it compares with the rest of the series is on Battlefield Series.
| Outlet | Score | Verdict in brief |
|---|---|---|
| GameSpot (Richard Wakeling) | 8/10 | "Good Company": great multiplayer, generic campaign |
| Game Informer (Jay Guisao) | 8.5/10 | |
| PC Gamer (Morgan Park) | 82/100 | Published Oct 16, 2025, after a review in progress |
| Eurogamer (Rick Lane) | 4/5 | |
| GamesRadar+ (Joel Franey) | 4/5 | Multiplayer on target, campaign "just a big shrug" |
| Push Square (Aaron Bayne, PS5) | 8/10 | "The Best Battlefield in Over a Decade" |
| Pure Xbox | 8/10 | |
| IGN (campaign) | 5/10 | Campaign reviewed on its own |
| IGN Italy / IGN Spain | 8.5/10 / 8/10 | |
| Game Rant, Shacknews, PCGamesN | 9/10 each | |
| GamingTrend | 95/100 | |
| Metro GameCentral | 7/10 | |
| VGChartz | 6.5/10 | |
| Kotaku | No score | "A Grimly Enjoyable Spectacle Of War" |
Scores as OpenCritic lists them, read Nov 8, 2026, with GameSpot's, GamesRadar+'s, Push Square's and Kotaku's own pages.
What critics liked: the multiplayer
The praise was for the thing Battlefield is known for. IGN reviewed the multiplayer separately from the campaign. GameSpot's review was titled "Good Company", and Push Square called it the best Battlefield in over a decade. VGC's verdict began "Excellent multiplayer shines". Reviewers singled out the return of the four classes after Battlefield 2042's Specialists (Classes), the destruction (Destruction) and the sound. Digital Foundry called the console versions' performance basically flawless for a big-budget release, helped by the developers' choice to ship without ray tracing on any platform (Best Settings and Performance).
The multiplayer's flaws were small but specific. IGN's multiplayer review found that Liberation Peak had become a meme for the hill always full of snipers, that Mirak Valley gave Breakthrough attackers too little cover, and that New Sobek City could fill up with anti-vehicle mines; it also found unlocks too slow, with class challenges closed until level 20 (Progression and Unlocks). The maps themselves are on Maps.
What critics did not like: the campaign
The single-player campaign, made chiefly by Motive (Battlefield Studios), was the part almost every review marked down. IGN scored its campaign review 5/10, and OpenCritic notes that IGN's overall entry averages that with its multiplayer score. GameSpot called the story generic and forgettable, VGC called it boilerplate, and Kotaku found its enemies uninteresting and its squadmates unintelligent. PC Gamer's preview had already said it was "satisfied being a Call of Duty cover band", and a later PC Gamer piece called it a misfire with erratic AI on both sides. Not every writer agreed: a GamesRadar+ column after all nine missions argued its silliness is the point. The missions and story are on Campaign.
We think the split verdict was fair and that the campaign cost Battlefield 6 a few points of its score but none of its sales: the people who bought it in record numbers (Sales) came for the multiplayer, and Steam's own figures show only 9.5% of Steam players have finished the campaign (Achievements and Trophies).
Steam user reviews and the player backlash
Players rated the launch well and the first season badly. When Season 1 and REDSEC arrived on Oct 28, 2025, PC Gamer reported Battlefield 6's Steam reviews dropping to "Mixed", with players complaining about pop-up ads for the battle pass, the small Blackwell Fields map and weekly challenges that pushed them into the battle royale. Kotaku reported the same backlash the next day, and REDSEC's own reviews started mixed. By Mar 9, 2026, Dexerto reported Battlefield 6's Steam rating down from "Mostly Positive" to "Mixed" and REDSEC's at "Mostly Negative", with players citing heavy monetization, cosmetics that looked AI-generated and slow content. The long-time players' case was put by Enders, a daily Battlefield streamer, in his Oct 10, 2026 one-year review: he argued the gunplay, movement and vehicles had been made too simple to hold people, and that most of the player base was gone three to four months in.
The cosmetics complaint came back with Season 5. On Oct 15, 2026 Kotaku reported that Area 51 was praised but paid cosmetics were again criticized as looking AI-generated, one with a misspelled "Secuty" patch; EA has not said whether generative AI was used. On Metacritic the gap shows plainly: critics 83, PS5 users 6.7, with 24% of user ratings negative. The pass and the store are on Battle Pass and Battlefield Pro.
Awards
| Award | Result |
|---|---|
| The Game Awards 2025 | Won Best Audio Design; nominated for Best Action Game and Best Multiplayer Game |
| Golden Joystick Awards 2025 | Nominated for Best Multiplayer Game, Best Audio Design and Best Game Trailer; no win |
| D.I.C.E. Awards 2026 | Finalist for Online Game of the Year (ARC Raiders won) |
| BAFTA Games Awards 2026 | Nominated for Animation (Dispatch won) |
The Game Awards win was announced on Dec 11, 2025 and celebrated by EA the next day; Hades II took Best Action Game and ARC Raiders Best Multiplayer Game, per Dexerto. The Golden Joystick results are from GamesRadar+, the D.I.C.E. results from Shacknews, and the BAFTA nominations from CGMagazine and the winners from NME. In our view the audio prize is the right one: we think the sound of a Battlefield 6 firefight, near and far, is the best thing in the game, and it is what reviewers mentioned most after the destruction.
Frequently asked questions
What is Battlefield 6's Metacritic score?
83 on PS5 from 71 critics, 84 on Xbox Series X and 82 on PC, as of Nov 8, 2026. PS5 users score it 6.7.
What is Battlefield 6's OpenCritic score?
83, rated "Strong", with 89% of 172 critics recommending it, as of Nov 8, 2026.
Is the Battlefield 6 campaign good?
Most critics found it the weakest part: IGN's campaign review scored it 5/10 and GameSpot called the story generic. A minority enjoyed it as a short, silly action film.
Why are Battlefield 6's Steam reviews Mixed?
Players marked it down from Season 1 onward over small maps, battle pass pop-ups, challenges that pushed them into REDSEC, monetization and cosmetics that looked AI-generated, as PC Gamer, Kotaku and Dexerto reported.
Did Battlefield 6 win any awards?
Yes: Best Audio Design at The Game Awards 2025. It was also nominated for Best Action Game and Best Multiplayer Game there, and at the Golden Joysticks, D.I.C.E. and BAFTA awards.
Sources
- Battlefield 6 and its reviews, OpenCritic, read Nov 8, 2026
- Battlefield 6, Metacritic (PS5, Xbox Series X, PC), read Nov 8, 2026
- Battlefield 6 Review - Good Company, GameSpot, Oct 9, 2025
- Battlefield 6 review, GamesRadar+, Oct 9, 2025
- Battlefield 6 review, VGC, Oct 9, 2025
- Battlefield 6 review, Push Square, Oct 2025
- Battlefield 6 review, Kotaku, Oct 2025
- Battlefield 6's Metacritic score is the best DICE has had in years, GamesRadar+, Oct 2025
- So far the Battlefield 6 campaign is satisfied being a Call of Duty cover band, PC Gamer, Oct 2025
- It's a great year for Battlefield 6 multiplayer, but the campaign's a misfire, PC Gamer, Oct 2025
- Battlefield 6's campaign is rooted in silliness, GamesRadar+, Oct 2025
- Digital Foundry delivers its verdict on the Xbox versions of Battlefield 6, Pure Xbox, Oct 2025
- Battlefield 6 reviews drop to Mixed on Steam, PC Gamer, Oct 2025
- Battlefield 6 Season 1 reactions, Kotaku, Oct 29, 2025
- Battlefield 6 REDSEC's mixed Steam reviews ignite a firestorm, Windows Central, Oct 2025
- EA lays off Battlefield 6 studio staff, Dexerto, Mar 9, 2026
- Battlefield 6 gets slammed for more slop slipping through, Kotaku, Oct 15, 2026
- EA at The Game Awards 2025, Electronic Arts, Dec 12, 2025
- The Game Awards 2025 winners, Dexerto, Dec 12, 2025
- Golden Joystick Awards 2025: all winners, GamesRadar+, Nov 20, 2025
- The D.I.C.E. Awards 2026 winners, Shacknews, Feb 12, 2026
- BAFTA 2026 game nominees revealed, CGMagazine, Mar 12, 2026
- All the winners of the BAFTA Games Awards 2026, NME, Apr 20, 2026
- Battlefield 6 Campaign Review, IGN, Oct 9, 2025 (video)
- Battlefield 6 Multiplayer Review, IGN, Oct 16, 2025 (video)
- One Year Later - Battlefield 6 Review From Daily Player, Enders, Oct 10, 2026 (video)
Moments
Battlefield 6 Multiplayer Review
IGN
- Critics rated Battlefield 6 well: 83 on OpenCritic, with 89% of critics recommending it, and 83 on Metacritic for PS5…
- The praise was for the thing Battlefield is known for. IGN reviewed the multiplayer separately from the campaign…
- The multiplayer's flaws were small but specific. IGN's multiplayer review found that Liberation Peak had become a meme…
- The Game Awards win was announced on Dec 11, 2025 and celebrated by EA the next day; Hades II took Best Action Game…
One Year Later - Battlefield 6 Review From Daily Player
Enders
Battlefield 6 Campaign Review
IGN
Related
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Platforms and CrossplayBattlefield 6 is on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam, EA app and Epic Games Store), with crossplay across all of them on by default. There is no PS4, Xbox One, Switch 2, Steam Deck or Linux version, and PC players cannot turn crossplay off.
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PredictionsWe think Battlefield 6's next remade map is Caspian Border from Battlefield 3, that Season 6 opens in Jan or Feb 2027 built around vehicles and the delayed B-81 Cavalry, and that EA supports the game through 2027 instead of announcing a successor.
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Price and EditionsBattlefield 6 costs $69.99 for the Standard Edition and $99.99 for the Game of the Year Edition on Steam in the US as of Nov 8, 2026, and it is included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass since Oct 13, 2026. The $99.99 Phantom Edition was the launch deluxe edition; REDSEC is free.
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Release Date and LaunchBattlefield 6 came out on Oct 10, 2025 at 15:00 UTC (8 a.m. PT) on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, at the same moment worldwide. It was revealed on Jul 24, 2025, shown in multiplayer on Jul 31, and tested in an open beta over two weekends in August 2025.
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SalesElectronic Arts' only unit figure for Battlefield 6 is over 7 million copies sold in its first three days, announced on Oct 16, 2025. EA later called it the best-selling shooter of 2025, and Circana ranked it the best-selling game of 2025 in the US, the first year a Battlefield outsold Call of Duty there.
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Steam Player CountBattlefield 6 had 43,714 people playing on Steam at 20:00 UTC on Nov 7, 2026, per SteamDB, against an all-time Steam peak of 747,440 on its launch day, Oct 10, 2025. Since Season 2 its daily peaks have averaged about 51,000 to 54,000 a season, and every new season lifts them for about two weeks.
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CampaignBattlefield 6's campaign is a nine-mission single-player story that follows Dagger 13, a US Marine Raider squad, against the private army Pax Armata. It takes about four to six hours, has four difficulties and 30 dog tags, and its rewards carry into multiplayer.
See also
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Battlefield SeriesBattlefield 6 is the latest of the Battlefield games that began with Battlefield 1942 in 2002, and the first main entry since Battlefield 2042 in 2021. It returns to the four classes and a story campaign after 2042 replaced classes with Specialists and had no campaign.
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ClassesBattlefield 6 has four classes, Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon, each with a fixed signature gadget, trait and weapon bonus, two training paths and an active ability. In most modes any class can carry any gun; Closed Weapon playlists keep each class to its signature weapon plus carbines, DMRs and shotguns.
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DestructionBattlefield 6 uses tactical destruction: most walls, light buildings and cover break in pre-scored chunks under explosives, vehicles, sledgehammers or sustained fire, while metal frames and many ground floors stay up. Season 5 added set-piece collapses such as the Vegas Strip dome and sign, the Area 51 control tower and, from Nov 10, 2026, European Casino's tower.
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Best Settings and PerformanceOn consoles, play Battlefield 6 in Balanced mode for a locked 60 fps, or Performance mode only with a 120 Hz VRR display. On PC, Digital Foundry's optimized settings (High or Medium sun shadows, GTAO or SSGI Low, High textures on 8 GB cards) gave an RTX 3070 72% more speed, and a frame cap fixes stutter on weaker CPUs.
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Progression and UnlocksBattlefield 6 progression runs on Career Rank, which unlocks a functional item at every rank from 2 to 50 and cosmetics after, plus assignments that unlock the last guns, gadgets and training paths, and weapon and vehicle mastery to rank 50. EA has sped it up several times since launch, most in March 2026.
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MapsBattlefield 6 has 19 multiplayer maps as of Nov 8, 2026, nine from launch and ten added across five seasons, with European Casino due as the 20th on Nov 10, 2026. The largest are Tsuru Reef and Railway to Golmud; the smallest is Saints Quarter.