Electronic Arts has released its official Battlefield 6 open beta debrief, and the numbers paint a clear picture: Assault dominated the battlefield. According to the publisher’s infographic, Assault accounted for 32% of all deployments, well ahead of Support at 26%, Engineer at 23%, and Recon at just 19%.
Much of that popularity can be traced to one weapon. Players racked up more than 337 million kills with the pump-action shotgun during the test, a staggering figure that reflected both the weapon’s raw power and the beta’s tighter map design. The result was a close-quarters meta that made Assault the go-to choice for many players, raising balance concerns ahead of the full release. The beta also reignited debate around Rush mode, with many noting that higher player counts created overwhelming defenses and stalled frontlines, pushing DICE to lower its default player count for a more tactical experience.
Beyond class usage, the beta shattered franchise records across the board. Players logged more than 420 million matches and 92 million hours of gameplay, destroyed over nine million tanks, and leveled so many structures that EA jokingly tallied the “final destruction receipt” at $196 billion. It was, by EA’s own measure, the biggest Battlefield beta in history.
The data dump also came with promises of balance adjustments before launch. DICE confirmed tweaks to recoil and tap-fire mechanics across weapons, a nerf to the shotgun, and movement changes to curb excessive slide-jumping. The studio also noted that while the beta featured smaller maps, larger-scale environments and returning fan favorites—like a remake of Battlefield 3’s Operation Firestorm—will be available at launch.
Battlefield 6 is scheduled to release on October 10, 2025. For more details on how it played, check out our hands-on EA has released its official debrief for the Battlefield 6 open beta, and the numbers paint a clear picture: Assault dominated the battlefield. According to the publisher’s infographic, Assault accounted for 32% of all deployments, well ahead of Support at 26%, Engineer at 23%, and Recon at just 19%.
Much of that popularity can be traced to one weapon. Players racked up more than 337 million kills with the pump-action shotgun during the test, a staggering figure that reflected both the weapon’s raw power and the beta’s tighter map design. The result was a close-quarters meta that made Assault the go-to choice for many players, raising balance concerns ahead of the full release. The beta also reignited debate around Rush mode, with many noting that higher player counts created overwhelming defenses and stalled frontlines, pushing DICE to lower its default player count for a more tactical experience.
Beyond class usage, the beta shattered franchise records across the board. Players logged more than 420 million matches and 92 million hours of gameplay, destroyed over nine million tanks, and leveled so many structures that EA jokingly tallied the “final destruction receipt” at $196 billion. It was, by EA’s own measure, the biggest Battlefield beta in history.
The data dump also came with promises of balance adjustments before launch. DICE confirmed tweaks to recoil and tap-fire mechanics across weapons, a nerf to the shotgun, and movement changes to curb excessive slide-jumping. The studio also noted that while the beta featured smaller maps, larger-scale environments and returning fan favorites—like a remake of Battlefield 3’s Operation Firestorm—will be available at launch.
Battlefield 6 is scheduled to release on October 10, 2025. For more details on how it played, check out our hands-on open beta first impressions.
