Before Battlefield 6 launched and sold over seven million copies in three days, and well after that, players have been demanding bigger maps, just like the older titles. It reached a boiling point when Blackwell Fields launched in Season 1 to much hate. Even lead producer David Sirland agreed that larger sandbox-style maps were needed.
Over four months later, where are they? According to producer Phil Girette, they’re still coming, but fans will need to be patient. “We see that feedback, and hear it very loudly,” he told The Gamer. “And we’re really happy that people just, you know, want more of the stuff that we can provide.
“After the extension of Season 1 and after the launch, which went pretty smoothly for Battlefield standards, we decided that Season 2 needs a bit more time. I think the extension was one of the major factors where people now feel like, where is the new stuff? So if we had people playing the new stuff already, hopefully that would be a little bit better.”
Girette noted maps like the returning fan-favorite Golmud Railway from Battlefield 4, and how Season 2 offers “more maps, and bigger maps.” However, he confessed to the sheer time-consuming nature of maps.
“And what we’re doing on top of that, like we see in Season 2, is more maps, and bigger maps. We need to make sure that the maps hit the quality and match the expectations of what the players want. We’re already testing Golmud Railway early on Labs now, so that’s a step in the right direction. And then more maps is, of course, something that we will look more into. But also maps are one of the most time-intensive things that we build. We’ll need some more time.”
You have to wonder if delaying Season 2 by a month to address community feedback also played a part. Nevertheless, the effort seems to have been worth it – not only will future seasons avoid delays, but the current will serve as the foundation for what’s to come.
In the meantime, Season 2 offers Contaminated, a map where players must employ gas masks to survive against the enemy. On March 17th, its second phase, Nightfall, will introduce Hagental Base. The third phase, Hunter/Prey, arrives on April 14th and is intriguing in that it focuses on a limited-time mode called Operation Augur. Check out the full roadmap here.
