Electronic Arts has reportedly set an eye-watering target of 100 million players for its upcoming Battlefield 6, according to reports from Ars Technica. This ambitious figure dwarfs the franchise’s previous best performer, Battlefield 1, which reached approximately 25–30 million players at its peak.
The staggering player count goal marks a big change in EA’s strategy for the military shooter series. Industry insiders say the only way to hit that number is by introducing a partial free-to-play setup, likely featuring a standalone battle royale mode like Call of Duty: Warzone or Fortnite.
Battlefield 6, reportedly developed under the codename “Glacier,” comes with a massive price tag of over $400m in development costs. This substantial investment follows the troubled launch of Battlefield 2042, which failed to hit the mark with critics and players despite eventually reaching around 25 million players through heavy discounts and subscription services.
EA looks to be borrowing directly from competitors who have already pulled in those sorts of numbers. Call of Duty: Warzone racked up 100 million players within a year of its free-to-play launch, while Fortnite reached 200 million not long after dropping its battle royale mode. Word is, EA has even brought in folks from the original Warzone development team to help reach those big goals.
It seems the publisher’s move is pretty straightforward: mix old-school paid multiplayer action with free-to-play options to massively broaden the audience beyond just die-hard Battlefield fans. This would be a real shift from past efforts like Battlefield V’s “Firestorm” battle royale, which didn’t take off because it was stuck behind a paywall.
For a bit of background, the Battlefield series hasn’t had the easiest time lately. Both Battlefield V and 2042 got mixed reactions at launch, with 2042 especially taking heat for technical problems and stepping away from what longtime players liked. DICE, the main developer, has been through a lot of changes lately, with EA stepping in more and more.
Do the math, EA
These big expectations bring up questions about whether AAA games can keep up. With a reported $400m+ budget, Battlefield 6 is going to need to pull in record-shattering revenue through both regular sales and microtransactions to be seen as a win for EA.
If EA doesn’t hit those targets, we might see things like canceled content or even some layoffs—stuff that’s unfortunately become pretty common in the games business lately when companies miss their projections.
