Battlefield 6 Hit With Live Service Woes as Battle Royale Mode Meets Negative Reception

By Elijah Gonzalez | October 29, 2025 | 1:30pm

Video Games News battlefield 6

Battlefield 6 Hit With Live Service Woes as Battle Royale Mode Meets Negative Reception

Yesterday, Battlefield 6 received its first major content update, Season One, which launched alongside Redsec, a battle royale mode that can be played for free whether you own the base game or not. However, despite the meaty addition, fans are not happy: Redsec is currently sitting at “Mostly Negative” on Steam with only 36% positive reviews.

One of the main issues many players have with the update is how it changes their interactions with Battlefield 6’s Battle Pass. Before, players could complete weekly challenges in almost any mode, which would give them BP points that help contribute towards their progress in the Pass. However, after the battle royale update, there are now certain challenges that can only be completed in the Redsec mode. Basically, players are being funneled into the new mode, whether they want to engage with it or not.

Beyond this, many players simply seem to be annoyed with several other elements of the battle royale mode: some take issue with the apparent lack of a solo queue option (meaning it’s likely for solo players to run into teams of coordinated foes), while others simply felt that the mode is relatively lackluster compared to its peers like Call of Duty’s Warzone.

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It doesn’t help that some perceive that this free-to-play mode received more development attention than the $70 base game: specifically, it has bolstered destructibility compared to the main game, has the kind of wide-open map that fans have been clamoring for, and is the only mode with water gameplay. Considering that many are already very upset with the small size of most maps and how hard the base game seems to be pushing its smaller scale, Call of Duty-esque formats, many are angry that this bigger, more involved map is in a free-to-play mode they don’t want to play, instead of the core game.

On top of this, there is also quite a bit of dissatisfaction with the game’s cosmetics, as several new skins have a flashy aesthetic that contradicts the studio’s early statements that they’d be keeping the skins “grounded.” The new update also made it so that the microtransaction pages boot on startup, which has caused many unfavorable comparisons to Call of Duty.

To summarize the situation, many existing Battlefield players are older FPS players who want the new Battlefield to be more reminiscent of previous games in the series, which predates modern online games that heavily push microtransactions and Battle Passes. They take issue with the core game feeling like a combination of the bigger battles the series is known for, alongside smaller-scale Call of Duty-esque modes and maps that many core fans are frustrated with.

Previously, a large number of these vocal Battlefield 6 players believed the game was at least partially catering to them, but with the additions in the Season One update, it seems that apparent illusion has been shattered for many.