The Battlefield 6 open beta is a huge hit, but its 'time to kill' splits opinion

The Battlefield 6 open beta is absolutely flying. It's been four years since the last entry in the legendary FPS series, and developers DICE, Motive, Criterion, and Ripple Effect appear to have cooked up a winner in that time. Currently, the free-to-access public test has nearly half a million players on Steam alone, topping even the numbers hit by Monster Hunter Wild's massive beta earlier this year. As debates around weapon balance and time to kill rage on, the question remains: Is Battlefield back? So far, it looks like the answer is yes.

The Battlefield 6 beta opened its doors to everyone this morning, Saturday August 9, and its Steam player count has continued to climb ever higher as more players across the world wake up and jump into the action. It's certainly a promising sign for the series, which has struggled to recapture its glory days with recent entries but now looks set to stand among the best FPS games once more. At the time of writing, Battlefield 6 has hit a high of 473,632 active Steam players, but there's still time for that count to climb further.

Will these numbers translate into big Battlefield 6 sales? There's no easy answer; the beta test is a way for people to try the game out for free, and some will play it and decide they're not interested in paying for the full thing. Battlefield 2042's open beta pulled in a peak of more than 156,000 players on Steam, for example, but the full game has only ever climbed as high as 107,000.

Conversely, 2022's Call of Duty MW2 leapt from a beta count of 168,000 on Steam to more than 263,000 at launch, so there's certainly potential for BF6 to do something similar. Even more staggering was Monster Hunter Wilds; Capcom's latest pulled in an impressive open beta high of 463,000, but the final game reached just shy of 1.4 million active players, despite the many performance issues suffered by PC players.

We'll have to wait for the Battlefield 6 release date for a definitive verdict. Signs are certainly good, however. In our hands-on preview, Sam whispers that it feels like "an exciting return to form" for the series. Look online, and rather than expressing disappointment or disinterest, all the conversations are about balance and mechanics, indicating that people are invested and having fun. Old friends I played with during the Battlefield 2, 3, and 4 days are all coming out of the woodwork to suit up once more.

It's certainly not without issue. The developer warns that queues are expected, and says it's "working on entry times" as peak hours hit. Some players report invisible weapon bugs, and I've run into a few instances of textures glitching and causing the screen to flicker dramatically. Currently, however, the most talked-about aspects are the fast time to kill (TTK) and the best Battlefield 6 weapons. Are the BF6 shotguns overpowered? Or is run and gun simply too fun to get hit with the nerf hammer?

If you don't have enough time to play this weekend, don't worry; you can still earn the rewards that are currently up for grabs during the second beta test, which takes place next weekend from August 14-17. We've also got details on the latest Battlefield 6 Twitch drops for even more free goodies and gear.

Need some help climbing the ranks? We've got everything you need to know about the Battlefield 6 maps, as well as a guide to the best Battlefield 6 classes. If you're looking to get another edge on the enemy, you'll do well to upgrade to the best gaming headset for PC.

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