The first weekend of the Battlefield 6 Open Beta that ran from August 9-10 (with August 7-8 Early Access available to those who got codes from Twitch Drops or Battlefield Labs participation) was a colossal success, with well over 500K players jumping in concurrently on Steam alone and breaking Call of Duty‘s record on the platform.
Now, Electronic Arts (EA) and DICE are gearing up to kick off Weekend 2 of the beta, with the large-scale multiplayer FPS’ servers scheduled to be up through August 14-17 on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam, EA app, Epic Games), and PS5. To be specific, the second beta weekend is scheduled to begin on August 14 at 1:00 a.m. PT globally.
Notably, this additional beta test will feature more content than the first one did, including the classic Rush mode — a smaller gametype of 32 players instead of 64 in which attackers have to plant explosives on designated objectives — as well as the infantry-only Empire State map set in Brooklyn, New York.
These — along with Squad Deathmatch — will join Conquest and Breakthrough from Weekend 1, along with the tank and infantry-heavy Siege of Cairo and Iberian Offensive stages and the larger Liberation Peak map that features everything from armored ground vehicles to choppers and jets.
Note that the option for class-restricted, “closed” weapons (for example, only Support players can use LMGs, or only Recon players can use snipers) will only be available for larger all-out warfare modes like Conquest and Breakthrough.
In a new blog post in which the new playlist options mentioned above were discussed, DICE also revealed that a brand new feature will be available for players to use during Weekend 2 of the Open Beta: Custom Search.
Custom Search “allows you to choose your favorite combinations of maps and modes,” with the matchmaking system doing its best to prioritize putting you in a lobby with the maps and modes you’ve chosen. Effectively, it’s a solution that ensures you’re not at the complete mercy of RNG, and should prevent scenarios like being matched into the same map many times in a row.
The introduction of Custom Search will hopefully assuage some frustrations that players have as a result of Battlefield 6’s lack of an official server browser, though there will undoubtedly still be a demand for one even with this tool available.
That said, the fact the developers have specified that “this is not a Server Browser” before adding that one “is not being tested this week” suggests one could be on the way. To be clear, there’s no clear confirmation of this, so don’t expect one to come; the wording is simply interesting, and worth highlighting.
Whether a full server browser eventually comes or not, though, this Custom Search option will be great to have, and addresses one of the only major pieces of widespread negative feedback from the first Open Beta weekend.
Thus far, the reception to the beta — and Battlefield 6 as a whole — has been almost unanimously positive, with fans celebrating the return of iconic Battlefield classes, the addition of creative and powerful new class gadgets, advanced dynamic destruction systems, and more.
Overall, the game feels awesome to play, and thanks to its impeccable visuals and audio — the spectacle of the presentation aided by DICE’s commitment to “gritty realism” in the face of Call of Duty’s goofy skins — it has the potential to stand tall as one of, if not the, most immersive military shooter ever made.
Indeed, it’s an exciting time to be a Battlefield fan, especially after years of the franchise’s relevance declining in the wake of Battlefield V and Battlefield 2042. If you haven’t tried Battlefield 6 yet, make sure to jump in during Weekend 2 of the Open Beta, as it’s the last opportunity you’ll get to do so before its full launch on October 10 (make sure you give the PC spec requirements a look).
Preorders for the game are for sale now across all of Battlefield 6’s platforms, with its standard edition clocking in with an MSRP of $69.99. Notably, this is lower than the $80 cost some feared would come, as EA has committed to avoiding that price point for now.
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