EA and Battlefield Studios just gave us a big preview of the massive Day One patch coming to Battlefield 6 on launch day, confirming over 200 changes focused on bug fixes, balance, and polish. We’re getting a ton of welcome tweaks, from more responsive movement and a rebalanced recoil on automatic weapons to improved netcode that should make time-to-death feel fairer.
They’re even fixing map issues like spawn killing on Siege of Cairo and revising layouts for Rush and Breakthrough to improve the attacker/defender balance. That’s all fantastic news and shows they’re listening to the huge amount of feedback from the beta, which racked up an insane 92 million hours of playtime. Here’s the kicker: with all these fixes, they’re still doubling down on the one thing that has the veteran community split down the middle: the Open Weapons system.
The Open vs. Closed Weapons Controversy
For long-time fans of the Battlefield series, Closed Weapons (where certain weapon types are locked to specific classes) has always been a cornerstone of the franchise. It forces variety, encourages team-play, and makes each class feel distinct. For instance, the Engineer has their SMGs for defending vehicles up close, and the Support class rocks the LMG for area denial. It just feels like a proper Battlefield experience.
The new default, Open Weapons, is the complete opposite: it lets any class use any weapon. This has been one of the hottest topics in the community since the beta. The concern is that this style, which many feel is an attempt to mimic games like Call of Duty, dilutes the class identity and makes the game feel more like a chaotic Team Deathmatch. If a Support player can heal themselves, carry ammo, and run around with a top-tier Assault Rifle, what’s the point of the other classes, really?
The developers’ response is that the “vast majority of players” chose to stick with Open Weapons after trying both systems in the beta, which “reinforces our belief that Open Weapons is the right path forward for Battlefield 6”. To be fair, they do say that official Closed Weapons playlists will be available at launch to support players who prefer the classic experience, and the option will remain in the Portal toolset.
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On the other hand, many fans feel the data was intentionally skewed during the beta. The Open Weapons playlist was the default and most visible option, essentially labeled as the “normal” way to play. Meanwhile, the Closed Weapons playlist was often shoved off-screen in the menu and wasn’t available for every mode, like Rush. So, saying Open Weapons was more popular because it was played more is like saying a giant billboard got more views than an ad in the back of a phonebook. It just feels like a concession was made in bad faith to placate veterans while keeping their preferred, more CoD-like system as the main draw.
While the weapons debate rages on, you can’t deny the sheer amount of work that has gone into the rest of the launch patch. Automatic weapons will have rebalanced recoil, making long-range gunplay more rewarding for players who focus on tap firing and burst control.
More Is Coming in Battlefield 6
The fixes here should reduce desync and address cases of invisible damage. Hopefully, this means fewer times you die instantly before you even know what hit you. The MBT-LAW is now the default Engineer launcher with improved guidance and a more accurate trajectory, and the MAS 148 Glaive is also getting an enhancement. Also, Deploy Beacons are now limited to one spawn per player (four per squad total) to prevent overuse. That should definitely help with some of the beta’s more frustrating moments.
We’re getting a cleaner HUD, updated overlays, new minimap options, and expanded settings like VO volume sliders and a camera roll toggle. This is important, as the UI was one of the things that got relentlessly roasted during the beta. It’s great that the developers are focused on a smooth launch with all these fixes, and the improvements to movement, Rush mode, and network stability are a huge deal. Until they give the Closed Weapons experience a proper, fair shake instead of treating it like a legacy mode for a niche audience, I have to worry they’re steering the franchise too far from what made it special in the first place.
Time will tell if the official Closed Weapons playlists get the support they deserve at launch, or if they’re simply doomed to fade into the background. Either way, you need to keep an eye on Battlefield 6 for now.
