- Battlefield 6 Season 3 launches today
- It introduces a massive new map and new weapons, among other major content
- A developer described the team as "100% dedicated" to improving the game
Right now, Battlefield 6 seems like it's in a bit of a rough spot. After a record-breaking launch, Steam player counts have plateaued (that's according to data by SteamDB) and, while the game remains one of the most played on the platform, its population is less than 10% of the lofty peak.
Developer Battlefield Studios (a combination of Electronic Arts' Dice, Criterion, Ripple Effect, and Motive teams) was hit with layoffs earlier this year, which many speculated to be the result of the game failing to retain players in line with expectations.
Still, the team is hard at work putting out regular updates with the latest, Season 3, launching today. It introduces a lot of what fans have been asking for: the biggest Battlefield 6 map yet, in a remake of the beloved Railway to Golmud from Battlefield 4, an assortment of new weapons, and ranked battle royale play.
Ahead of the season's launch, executive producer Philippe Ducharme told TechRadar Gaming that the team wanted to strike "the right balance" with the map that's being added.
"We've talked about the Season 3 maps. We've also hinted in the Season 4 maps, which are also very big maps," he said.
"We're looking at it as an overall portfolio, making sure that we're providing maps that fit well the different play styles and that fit well with the themes of the season. We did have a need to have larger size maps, which is something that we're filling now with Golmud and that we're going to keep iterating on for future seasons."
Although their prevalence was a common complaint at launch, this doesn't mean that small maps (often called 'meat grinders' by players) are going away.
"The meat grinders are always fun. They're different, and they can be very frustrating, but they're fun and engaging maps as well," Ducharme argued. "It's about making sure that we're able to strike that right balance between what we're offering our players with every season to make them excited to come back."
He went on to add that the team is actively "engaged in making the experience better" with each new update. "Every season, we're delivering extremely compelling new content that comes in that's exciting for players, that's different," he continued. "We're also 100% dedicated to making sure that the overall experience, the foundation that we've built, keeps improving."
We'll have to wait and see whether Season 3 brings back lapsed Battlefield 6 players, or even successfully attracts new ones, but if you're interested in giving the game a go, you can buy it on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC now.
Battlefield Redsec, a standalone battle royale component, is out on the same platforms for free.
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