EA has pretty much confirmed the first Battlefield Labs playtest for the upcoming Battlefield game. As a quick reminder, Battlefield Labs is a community-driven approach EA is taking to develop its new Battlefield game, colloquially referred to as Battlefield 6. It's designed to give the community a chance to experience concepts and mechanics early on in development so that they can provide feedback and help to EA.
It was reported that the first Battlefield Labs playtest for Battlefield 6 would take place today. In a post on social media, EA confirmed that Battlefield Labs is now in pre-alpha with play sessions taking place in a closed dev environment "focused on testing small chunks of a larger array of features."
According to EA's post:
During our first playsession our teams will be validating the systems and stability of Battlefield Labs such as server performance, while participants will be able to familiarise themselves with what’s next for Battlefield through testing the gunplay and movement experience, focused on:
- Feel of the different weapon archetypes
- Improvements to aim and control
- Weapon balance and fun factor
- Look and feel of movement
- Moving and interacting within the map
- Combat pacing
The post goes on to provide a deep dive into the design philosophy for gunplay and movement in Battlefield 6. EA notes that they are designing the game's combat experience "to ensure players of all skill levels can enjoy our gunplay and movement systems."
"Our goal is to offer gameplay that rewards skill with precise weapon feedback and movement options for veterans, while providing an intuitive experience for new players to learn and enjoy," the developer said. The post explains:
For gunplay we're exploring designs centered on helping you learn and develop skills and muscle memory through action, as weapons naturally signal their recoil direction. This feedback loop allows you to understand and adjust your aim, making it easier to handle different weapons. This system not only adds variety but also enhances each weapon's unique feel and play style.
Movement is also deeply integrated with gunplay, as your actions and targets are all part of the same cohesive combat experience. We aim to make movement both feel intuitive and rewarding to move within the world and during combat, but also when playing against someone using both the gunplay and movement systems to their maximum potential.
EA has taken steps to create consistent and optimized millisecond-to-millisecond soldier combat, such as reducing the time it takes for bullets to appear on your screen from when you press fire. The developer revealed they are optimized for a 60Hz tick rate to ensure the game server frequently updates the positions and actions for all players. The recoil system has also been adjusted to make weapon types feel unique when firing them. Character animations have also been revamped and EA has reintroduced movement features like crouch spring, combat dive, and landing roll. The first Battlefield Labs playtest will give players a chance to experience this new design philosophy with a hands-on approach to combat.
Reception to the first Battlefield Labs post has been mostly positive. If you're interested in participating in Battlefield 6 playtests to help provide feedback, you can still sign up for Battlefield Labs, although not everyone will be invited to every session.
EA has not formally announced the title of the new Battlefield game, although everyone is pretty much referring to it as Battlefield 6. The publisher previously stated that the game will be released during the 2026 fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026. There have been reports Battlefield 6 will be released in October of this year, although EA did note in a recent earnings call that it's prepared to shift the launch date depending on what other game get announced.