Many are criticizing the maps in BF6 for being too small. However, according to the developers, there should be something for everyone, from jet pilots to foot soldiers.
Are the maps in Battlefield 6 too small? This point has been hotly debated in the BF community since the first beta weekend – even comparisons with CoD are being drawn.
And chances are good that this debate will intensify when the second beta phase adds Empire State, another battlefield with a pure infantry focus in tight urban environments.
Shashank Uchil, Design Director for BF6, makes it clear in an interview with VGC: Size isn’t everything!
Uchil makes it clear that the team behind Battlefield 6 wants to offer maps for every type of player.
Of course, some maps may suit certain preferences better than others, but overall, everyone should be able to find their place. He explains:
For fans of infantry combat, we want to have maps that play well as foot soldiers. Another player might like tanks and other land vehicles. Okay, we’ll make a map that works well for tanks and infantry. Others say, ‘I like helicopters.’ So we’ll make a map for that. And then there are jets. I’m really bad at them. But there are players who are absolute pros at it, I have no idea how they do it. So we’ll make a map that appeals to that type of player.”
Tanks and jets will therefore be able to let off steam on Operation Firestorm and Mirak Valley, the largest map in BF6.
No to “open worlds”
At the same time, it is not the intention of the BF6 creators to develop large maps solely for the sake of size.
With its enormous level of detail and destruction physics, Battlefield 6 clearly wants to draw clear (technical) boundaries when it comes to the sheer size of the playing area. Uchil says:
Size isn’t everything, right? Just because you now have an area of X square kilometers doesn’t mean you have a good map. And if you make a really huge map, you’re going to want to fill that whole area with stuff, which in turn makes it a kind of open world. And then you’re forced to make all kinds of compromises.”
The smallest and therefore more infantry-focused maps in BF6 are Siege of Cairo, Empire State, and Saints Quarter.
A question of supply
Lead developer David Sirland commented on map design, hinting that there would be significantly larger maps at release than in the beta.
Of course, a big question mark hangs over the live service in this context.
The Battlefield series relied early on thematically staggered DLCs with different focuses. For example, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill brought large-scale tank battles to the game, while in BF1, the add-on In the Name of the Tsar opened up the Eastern Front with snow maps as a new setting.
Ultimately, fans will just have to wait for the release of Battlefield 6 on October 10 to see if all nine launch maps and all modes are actually playable.
Then the new Escalation mode will also make its debut, combining the classic Conquest formula with a gradually shrinking game world that (literally) escalates at the end.