The Year's Best Shooter Is Free To Play This Weekend
Don't worry Call of Duty fans, DICE has you covered.
Are you one of the many jilted Call of Duty fans let down by this year’s exceptionally mid release? Was it the half-baked campaign, the blatant use of generative AI assets, or the general lack of innovation? Luckily, Battlefield Studios is providing a reprieve, as the excellent multiplayer shooter will be free to play this holiday weekend, a perfect time to test the waters of this different style of competitive FPS.
From November 25 to December 2, Battlefield 6 will be free to play for everyone. This free trial will be available on all platforms. Players jumping in for free will have access to three maps (Eastwood, Siege of Cairo, and Blackwell Fields) and four modes, including the series staple, Conquest. The Playlists are meant for casual play, meaning new players shouldn’t have to worry about sweats and try-hards making a fool out of them.
This free trial is a little tricky to access. Instead of downloading the full Battlefield 6 game, new players must access the trial through Battlefield 6’s free-to-play client, Redsec. Through here, you’ll have access to the main game’s multiplayer modes, as well as its battle royale and the newly launched Gauntlet mode.
For newcomers, Battlefield Studios has wisely dropped a comprehensive introduction to the game, breaking down how the different modes work and some strategies worth taking to heart. While Battlefield 6 largely focuses on big-scale battles with dozens of players fighting for victory, there are plenty of smaller modes that Call of Duty players will feel right at home with. There’s, of course, Team Deathmatch, which will appeal to those who like to test their reflexes in a straight-up firefight.
The series' equivalent to Call of Duty’s Search and Destroy mode is called Sabotage. While it features slightly larger teams (8 vs. 8 to Call of Duty’s 6 vs. 6), it takes a similar amount of coordination without any vehicles to get in the way of the action.
Best of all, for those players who enjoy this free trial, they don’t have to stop come Dec. 2. Earlier this month, Battlefield launched the aforementioned Gauntlet mode, a round-based, tournament-style mode that pits eight squads of four against one another until there’s just one crew standing. It’s a more intimate style of play and a perfect marriage of Battlefield’s environmental destruction and emphasis on teamwork, with Call of Duty’s more fast-paced action.
Battlefield is known for its large scale battles, but there are plenty of smaller modes for players craving a Call of Duty style experience.
Each of the five rounds has teams competing in one of eight randomized, objective-based game types, all set on small sections of the battle royale’s map.
Inverse spoke to the mode’s lead designer, who told us it's meant to be a more accessible way into Battlefield’s entire multiplayer suite.
It’s been a big year for Battlefield 6. Not only is it a much-needed return to form for the franchise, but it's become the best-selling first-person shooter of the year, seemingly beating out its long-time competitor Call of Duty for the first time ever.
