Battlefield Studios is seemingly trying something different with Battlefield 6’s next patch, which everyone assumed would be a standard, mid-season update not intended to change the game significantly.
However, it appears that it may bring more to the game than we realised, enough that the developer sees it as an excuse to bring back the pre-launch Battlefield Labs testing initiative.
The December 9 patch kicks off the final phase of the game’s first season, which is set to take the game through the holidays and into the new year. We’ve known about its content for a while, and it’s definitely the lightest, compared to the two previous phases.
Battlefield Studios announced a host of new changes that will be included in the same patch, which are apparently significant enough to require player testing. The developer is reviving Battlefield Labs to help it do so, but only for three two-hour sessions, split across the game’s three main server regions (EU, NA, APAC).
All tests are scheduled for today, December 2, and they remain under NDA. Battlefield Labs is also sticking with PC as its chosen platform yet again, though you will be able to join through Steam this time, alongside the EA app.
The focus of the test will be on three key areas that the December 9 patch will be touching. First, there’s footstep audio, an issue that was really brought into focus with the launch of Redsec Battle Royale. You can expect to hear enemy footsteps from farther away, and intuitively know the type of surface they’re moving on.
The patch also brings another pass to hit registration and netcode, which BF Studios says should improve responsiveness in close-quarter situations. Finally, there are broader changes to other combat areas that the announcement didn’t elaborate on.
All testing will take place on Eastwood, and Operation Firestorm, rotating between Conquest, and Escalation.
Going forward, Battlefield Studios said to expect Labs to be open to more players, and for the process itself to be smoother. The developer wants to have faster turnaround times, after all, so that the initiative can test smaller changes and be more responsive to player feedback.
Some of the more involved, future sessions will include experiments with map layout changes and various other non-standard compositions of player and vehicle numbers. Of course, you can also expect new maps and modes to be tested in Labs, similar to how the CTE was used in Battlefield 4’s long life.
