Two of the biggest new games came late in 2025, with Battlefield 6 launching in early October and ARC Raiders dropping at the end of that month. But while both titles were massively successful across Xbox, PC, and PS5 in their first several weeks of availability, player counts and the Steam charts have begun to tell a different story as we’ve moved into the new year.
Presently, Battlefield 6 — a game that peaked at 747,440 Steam players at launch according to SteamDB data — only has 55,483 soldiers deployed into its digital battlegrounds. In fairness, it is Monday morning as I write this, but even so, the large-scale FPS has struggled to hit 100K players at peak hours, recently averaging 85K-100K at that time.
Firstly, despite Battlefield 6 now featuring 11 different maps, all of them are considerably smaller than larger stages from previous titles that gave players and vehicles more room to breathe, and more space and cover to work with. This has led to widespread complaints that the gameplay feels too crowded and somewhat Call of Duty-like, even on “big” maps like Mirak Valley or the shrunken-down remake of Battlefield 3’s Operation Firestorm.
There’s also been expressed disappointment about the cadence of Battlefield 6’s content drops, with many arguing that only two new maps — both of which were, again, too small — and a handful of limited-time modes that didn’t land well weren’t enough for Season 1 of the game’s live service (I liked Ice Lock a lot, but maps should be the priority). To offer a point of comparison, Battlefield 4’s five Expansion Packs that released in late 2013 through late 2014 each contained four maps.
The game’s controversial progression system is worth touching on as well. Many feel that it’s far too grindy, with many weapon attachments locked behind significant time investment and different camo cosmetics only obtainable by using specific weapons you may not like. If attachments were easier to unlock and camos were unlocked for guns individually as you got them to higher levels, I think players would be much happier. Please add more loadout options for helicopters and jets, too.
Finally, I’d also be remiss not to mention Battlefield 6’s technical issues, as many players have frequently reported hit registration problems, lag causing them to die even when they get into full cover, buggy animations when engaging enemy soldiers, and other mishaps. These can make the moment-to-moment gameplay feel inconsistent and frustrating, taking away from the experience considerably.
There are some other things, like the widely-hated Netflix tile-style UI, the poor job Battlefield Studios has done to showcase community-made Portal experiences, and the contentious balancing of the Breakthrough mode. The aforementioned issues, though, are Battlefield 6’s biggest problems, and I don’t think we’ll see the FPS regain some of its popularity before they’re addressed.
Though it’s hard to compare them directly since they’re two different types of shooters, I’d say ARC Raiders has done a better job of delivering post-launch content so far, and also has a more satisfying progression system and “cleaner,” more reliable netcode. It’s for these reasons, alongside the highly dynamic nature of PvPvE games that makes the entire experience unpredictable, that I believe it’s performing better than Battlefield 6.
What do you think of Battlefield 6’s current performance compared to that of ARC Raiders’? What do you think Battlefield Studios should do to improve Battlefield 6 and help it regain some popularity? Let me know in the comments.
FAQ
Is Battlefield 6 crossplay or cross-platform?
Yes, Battlefield 6 has crossplay and cross-platform play between Xbox, Windows PC, and PS5. It’s enabled by default, though console players can opt to turn it off if they want to. This may result in longer matchmaking times, however.
Does Battlefield 6 have cross-progression?
Battlefield 6 supports cross-progression, meaning that as long as you use the same EA account to log into the game across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation, all of your unlocked weapons, attachments, cosmetics, and more will transfer across platforms.
Is Battlefield 6 on Xbox Game Pass?
No, Battlefield 6 is not available to play through Xbox Game Pass. If you want to enjoy it, you’ll need to buy a full copy of the game.
Is ARC Raiders crossplay or cross-platform?
Like Battlefield 6, ARC Raiders supports full crossplay/cross-platform play between players on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation. It’s enabled by default, though you can turn crossplay between PC and consoles off in the settings if you’d like to.
Does ARC Raiders have cross-progression?
Also like Battlefield 6, ARC Raiders has cross-progression, allowing you to transfer all of your skill progression and accrued loot across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation as long as you use the same Embark ID across every platform you own the extraction shooter on.
Is ARC Raiders on Xbox Game Pass?
ARC Raiders is not playable on Xbox Game Pass, so you can’t use Microsoft’s gaming service to access it. Instead, you’ll need to purchase a full copy of the game.
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