Battlefield 6 dev promises the game will return to the 'gritty' tone of earlier entries – 'you're not running around in a hero cape'

• Battlefield 6 will be a "gritty and real" experience like earlier entries in the series
• Battlefield Studios UX director Alan Pimm said the game will have a different atmosphere to Battlefield 2042
• The developer also said it's "not a military sim" but "it's got enough of that grit that you feel it's believable"

According to EA, Battlefield 6 will be a modern military shooter inspired by earlier entries in the series and designed to be a "gritty and real" experience for players.

Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming at the Battlefield 6 multiplayer reveal event, Battlefield Studios user experience director Alan Pimm said that the game's return to a modern setting after the futuristic Battlefield 2042 was something that the studio knew players wanted.

"Battlefield 3 and 4 were our strongest muses," Pimm said. "They were the ones that were in that same kind of modern frame, which is what people want. They don't want ultra-modern or futuristic. They want the weapons of today, that was the strong thing that came out of the research."

The developer said the upcoming shooter will look very different from 2042, particularly in terms of color palette and overall atmosphere, and will return "back to the grit" the series is best known for.

"It's remembering that dirt should be dirty. We're not a pristine, sterile environment anymore. You've got the dust, the particles, the mud... You're not running around in a hero cape," Pimm explained.

"You're not running around in a hero cape. You know you are the soldier on the battlefield with your friends in amongst the muck and the dust and the explosions. The fiber of everything we've done in this is going 'let's make it gritty. Let's make it gritty and real.'

"It's not military sim, that's not where we go, it's fun still, but it's got enough of that grit that you feel it's believable."

Battlefield 6 will launch on October 10, 2025, for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

An early access period will begin on August 7-8, followed by open beta weekends on August 9-10 and on August 14-17.

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