The Battlefield franchise has had a lot of ups and downs in recent years, with the release of Battlefield 6 being the best chance for the franchise to escape its downward spiral. While recent entries in the franchise like Battlefield 2042 had ambitious features that showed incredible promise for the series, it seems like each release somehow manages to be worse than the last. Even if many of the issues plaguing each entry could eventually be fixed, the largest problem seems to be a lack of understanding of what made the series so great in the first place.

Even if Battlefield 2042 had plenty of promising mechanics, like advanced weather systems and its innovative Portal game mode, most of them ended up failing in their execution. Thankfully, the leaked gameplay footage from Battlefield Labs seems like Battlefield 6 will be a return to form for the series, but it's too early to say whether the finished product will land with fans. Following its recent failures, Battlefield 6 is likely to be a major make-or-break event for the franchise, determining not only the direction of the series moving forward, but potentially the last depending on its outcome.

10 A Bug Filled Launch With Unstable Connections

A Smooth Release Is Essential For Battlefield 6

While troubled launches aren't exactly a new issue for the Battlefield franchise, they can make an already risky launch even more disastrous. Despite having a significant number of entries to learn from, Battlefield 2042 had a widely criticized launch with issues ranging from poor optimization, plenty of bugs, and considerable net code problems. These issues would have been easier to digest if the rest of the game had matched its expectations, but ultimately made the already controversial launch a definitive failure.

There will be even more eyes ready to criticize anything that goes wrong in Battlefield 6.

Following the disastrous launch of Battlefield 2042, there will be even more eyes ready to criticize anything that goes wrong in Battlefield 6, making it essential for EA to deliver a finished product regardless of how long it takes. So long as Battlefield 6 can deliver a satisfying core gameplay experience there will be some room for error, but It's better to be safe than sorry when the reputation of the franchise is on the line.

9 Oversimplifying Battlefield's Class System

Removing Specialists Is Only The First Step To Fixing The Class Problem

Aside from taking away one of the most iconic gameplay aspects of the franchise that promoted teamwork above all else, specialists felt incredibly out of place for the arcade-style realism that Battlefield is known for. Battlefield 6 has already made a massive improvement by removing its controversial specialist system, but classes require a significant amount of balancing for every entry in the series, being more prevalent with higher gear variety.

With gadgets and weapons being locked to certain classes instead of specialists, balancing the strengths and weaknesses of each becomes even more important than ever. Although certain classes like Engineer or Recon have always been fan favorites due to their powerful gadgets and exceptional weaponry, the next Battlefield entry needs to add standout offerings to each of the four classes. Another aspect that encourages more class versatility is solid map design, which can significantly impact the abilities of each class depending on its layout and focus on vehicles.

8 Focusing Too Much On Its Battle Royale Mode

A Mode That Could Easily Overshadow The Core Battlefield Experience

While everything so far has pointed to the next Battlefield game being a surprisingly hopeful release, the leaks confirming an additional battle royale mode could spell disaster for the series. To be fair to EA, it's too early to say if the battle royale mode will be anything other than a fun way to add replayability, but the confirmation of its free standalone release brings up several concerns. From an overreliance on gaudy microtransactions to taking up resources that could have gone towards the development of Battlefield 6, it could drastically alter what the franchise is known for moving forward.

While I'm hesitant to be hopeful for a battle royale and all that it could bring to the series following EA's complete abandonment of Titanfall after the absurdly massive success that Apex Legends continues to be, it could have one silver lining for the series. Being filled with microtransactions and paid content es, a Battlefield-themed battle royale could be a great way to fund content updates much quicker for Battlefield 6, without relying on expensive DLC packs.

7 Ignoring Fan From Battlefield Labs

Past Entries Proved That Fan Is An Essential Asset

Battlefield 6 already has a significant advantage over previous entries thanks to EA's introduction of Battlefield Labs, but it's entirely up to EA if they can take advantage of the valuable alpha test results. This system can let EA get direct from its community on the fly long before any official launch, giving them the time needed to make significant changes unlike a standard beta test weeks before launch.

The Battlefield fanbase is incredibly vocal about their concerns, and while it can be hard to get a consistent answer from a game's community, there are still gameplay aspects that a majority of players can agree upon. Thankfully, leaked footage from the Battlefield Labs testing looks incredibly promising, as they already address several major complaints players had with previous entries. After the disaster that Battlefield 2042 proved to be for the series, I'm incredibly hesitant to get excited about a new entry, but the footage offers a hopeful glimpse into the future of the series.

6 Adding Skins That Take Away From Battlefield's Immersive Experience

A Surefire Way To Ruin What Makes Battlefield Stand Out

The Battlefield franchise is a far cry from a military simulator, but its gameplay shines even brighter when approached with a grounded visual style. Although Battlefield 2042 had a significant number of problems with its new direction, its post-launch cosmetic offerings have been surprisingly tame compared to what I expected from the game. While some cosmetics like the Ember skin series still tend to stick out compared to the standard military-style offerings of Battlefield, they're much more acceptable than the completely outlandish skin designs that arcade-style franchises are offering these days.

It's not as though EA didn't try to capitalize on the outlandish cosmetic systems so popular in games like Fortnite and Call of Duty with skins, but the overwhelmingly negative player quickly put a stop to it, best seen in the canceled Santa outfit for Boris. Given that EA is returning to the modern-day setting with all the grime and destructive realism I've come to expect from the series, slapping some neon outfits onto every other player would be an easy way to kill any motivation I had to play the game.

5 Ignoring The Strengths Of Naval Combat

A Unique Offering That Takes Advantage Of Battlefield's Greatest Assets

Naval combat is far from the most universally beloved aspect of Battlefield, but multiple entries in the franchise have shown that naval warfare still has plenty of interesting gameplay implementations. While Battlefield 4's naval combat itself wasn't the best in the series, the maps that BF4's ocean-focused DLC provided are by far some of its most memorable, with an exhilarating gameplay design to match.

The maps that BF4's ocean-focused DLC provided are by far some of its most memorable.

With how successful naval combat has been in the past, it felt incredibly strange that Battlefield 2042 abandoned the concept entirely. While there were some vehicles capable of traversing the water, like the Hovercraft or MAV, the system felt like a massive regression from previous entries. This decision was especially painful after Battlefield 1 added even more depth to naval combat with Dreadnoughts and other water-based vehicles, which I hope Battlefield 6 takes at least some inspiration from, especially when it comes to naval landing-style maps.

4 Holding Back On Environmental Destruction

Putting Battlefield's Most Standout Feature Front And Center

Out of everything the Battlefield franchise has offered over the years, its standout feature has been the sheer level of destruction that its large-scale battles can provide. From altering the environment in ways that meaningfully affect gameplay to simply adding sheer spectacle to the experience, Battlefield 2042's toned-down destructibility was one of its greatest flaws.

Battlefield 2042's toned-down destructibility was one of its greatest flaws.

Thankfully, the first trailer and subsequently leaked pre-alpha footage for Battlefield 6 have showcased the return of the massively overhauled destruction I hoped to see from the series. With Battlefield 6 seemingly still in the early stages of development, it's a great sign that destructibility is one of the first things on EA's mind for the game. Even if there's plenty of reason to be excited about Battlefield 6's destructibility, there's always a concern that it could be misleading or get toned down on release, much like Battlefield 2042's disaster.

3 An Overeliance On Gimmicky Environmental Mechanics

Becoming More Of A Nuisance Than A Spectacle

Similar to increasing the level of destruction in Battlefield 6, the next entry in the franchise could greatly benefit from cutting back on scripted aspects that make matches feel too similar to each other. Even with the weather mechanics in Battlefield 2042 being d as one of its main selling points, they felt incredibly underwhelming compared to past entries, often having either little effect on the map or being more of an annoyance than anything else.

Level-changing destruction events can offer significant tactical advantages that shake up the way a level is played on the fly.

Although Levelutions are a somewhat controversial mechanic in the Battlefield community, when implemented correctly, level-changing destruction events can offer significant tactical advantages that shake up the way a level is played on the fly. It feels like a massively missed opportunity that Battlefield 2042's catastrophic weather conditions didn't have a more significant effect on the actual maps themselves. I would have loved for the Tornado to tear through the cityscape, transforming the open areas into a close-quarters battle through the remains of collapsed buildings, but unfortunately, Battlefield 2042's environmental events fail to stack up against its predecessors in their execution.

2 Not Returning To Classic Vehicle Mechanics

An Overcomplicated System That Feels Out Of Place For Battlefield

Battlefield 2042's vehicles were certainly fun at first, but it quickly became apparent that vehicle balancing was a major issue for the game. The increased 128-player count didn't do Battlefield 2042's vehicles any favors either, as they were likely buffed to survive the onslaught of players, with Battlefield 6's return to 64 players thankfully avoiding this problem. Hopefully, Battlefield 6 can also improve the variety of vehicles offered, as the current selection in 2042 left a lot to be desired.

On top of the changes made to Battlefield 2042's vehicle balance, the systems to get into its various tanks, aircraft, or transport vehicles felt fairly out of place for the series, especially when it comes to calling them in at will. While Battlefield 2042's vehicle system was intended to provide a more equal chance for players in a match to utilize the powerful machinery by adding hidden timers, many of the mechanics were poorly explained and overly convoluted compared to previous entries.

1 Soley Relying On DLC For Unlockable Content

Offering More Ways For Replayability

One of my biggest gripes with modern multiplayer games is an over-reliance on battle es and paid cosmetics. While these are usually acceptable on their own for players who want additional rewards, the standard progression system and unlockable in-game cosmetics often take a significant backseat in comparison to paid content.

Battlefield used to have a notable number of free unlockable cosmetics, with the dog tags and plentiful challenges in games like Battlefield 4 offering free content to strive towards throughout your in-game career. While it's incredibly unrealistic to expect EA not to include a battle and microtransactions in Battlefield 6, I just hope they don't completely abandon the unlockable content and standard progression systems that worked well in past entries.

Battlefield used to have a notable number of free unlockable cosmetics.

There's still a chance that the battle royale mode could take the brunt of the push towards microtransactions to leave the base game relatively untouched, but the recent trend of games tying unlockable gear or character to battle unlocks is something I hope doesn't make it to EA's latest Battlefield. Hopefully, Battlefield 6 is able to avoid as many of these issues as possible, but I'm still cautiously optimistic about the future of the franchise following EA's open relationship with Battlefield Labs while addressing their past failures.