Battlefield 6’s open beta has broken records, reaching an impressive peak of 521,079 concurrent players on Steam alone. This milestone places the game at number 18 on Steam’s all-time player count list and, more significantly, surpasses Call of Duty’s previous record of 491,670 players.
The massive turnout has created substantial server queues, with reports of up to 295,000 players waiting to join at peak times. In response, EA quickly expanded server capacity to accommodate the overwhelming demand.
“This is Battlefield’s biggest Open Beta ever,” confirmed EA in a social media post. “Peak time is approaching and queues will be expected. We’re working on entry times to the game, but appreciate your patience.”
The beta launched with early access on August 7-8 for those who signed up for Battlefield Labs or obtained codes through Twitch Drops. It then opened to everyone on August 9-10, with a second weekend scheduled for August 14-17 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC platforms.
Players can test several maps including Iberian Offensive, Liberation Peak, and Siege of Cairo. The first weekend features game modes such as Conquest, Closed Weapon Conquest, Breakthrough, Domination, and King of the Hill. The second weekend will add Empire State map plus Rush and Squad Deathmatch modes.
Beyond player counts, Twitch viewership has soared past 856,000, more than double Battlefield 2042’s previous high of 346,000 viewers. This dual-signal of interest across playing and watching platforms shows renewed enthusiasm for the franchise.
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The beta has also highlighted EA’s commitment to anti-cheat measures. The game requires Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 on PC through EA’s Javelin anti-cheat system. According to EA, this system has already blocked approximately 330,000 cheat attempts, with about 44,000 reports filed on day one and 60,000 more the next day.
DICE’s Alexia Christofi confirmed cheaters are being banned, though some players report still encountering wallhacks despite the security measures. The Secure Boot requirement has created some technical hurdles for players, with many needing to make BIOS changes to enable compatibility.
Notable gameplay changes in the beta include class-specific updates. The Assault class features a reworked Adrenaline Injector, the new Commanding Presence trait, Deploy Beacon (moved from Recon), and Assault Ladder for vertical access. Recon now includes Spec Ops path with quieter movement, gadget detection, UAV call-ins, and Aim Spotting that auto-tags enemies in ADS.
Players experiencing crashes on PC might need to disable Mandatory ASLR in Windows Exploit Protection settings. PS5 users encountering the “IDOptionsModify” language issue can fix it by deleting the beta installation and saved data, switching system language to English, and reinstalling.
Despite technical issues, the beta has generated significant momentum for the full game’s October 10 release. Principal designer Florian Le Bihan has confirmed a minimum 60 FPS target across all platforms, with mouse and keyboard support on consoles and server browser access via Portal.
As competition with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (scheduled for November) looms, this record-breaking beta performance signals Battlefield’s potential resurgence. Whether this enthusiasm translates into sustained player numbers after launch remains to be seen, but EA’s ambitious comeback for the franchise is off to a promising start.