Signs that EA has no confidence in their upcoming Battlefield 6
- Tom Belous (The Lanky Soldier)
- Jul 21
- 7 min read
The name reveal of the next Battlefield game has us deeply worried, and it should worry you too.
The Battlefield One Podcast team is made up of Battlefield "veterans". We’ve seen the highs of Battlefield 3, the risky swings of Battlefield 1, and the lows of 2042. So when we found out that the next instalment is officially titled Battlefield 6, we weren’t excited, we were concerned. Very concerned.
This article we will break down why the name alone is one of the clearest signs that EA and Battlefield Studios may not have learned the right lessons, and why the reveal process only confirms that the upcoming title might be on shaky ground.
On July 19, 2025, the name “Battlefield 6” was leaked by a content creator who received an EA swag box with no NDA or embargo paperwork attached. This box meant to build hype effectively spoiled the name reveal and undermined any official plans EA had for unveiling the next chapter in the Battlefield franchise. Whether intentional or not, the fault was shared: EA for being careless with the materials, and the creator for ignoring years of protocol and professional courtesy.
But for us at Battlefield One Podcast, bigger issue wasn’t the leak, it was the name itself - Battlefield 6. A name that tells us everything we need to know about the mindset behind this game.
Battlefield franchise was never famous for its well designed, not confusing naming schemes for their games. Which is fine on a surface level, as it indicates that every Battlefield game is something different, something unique for everyone to enjoy. But where's the endgame? Where's the stability when every game is so different from each other and no one can agree what Battlefield franchise stands for?
And if you never played a Battlefield game and I would need to describe it for you the quality of it, I would probably use the famous quote from a "famous" philosopher of our times, Gattuso: "Sometimes may be good, sometimes may be shit".
Let’s talk about why this is a problem from multiple angles: starting with branding and communication.
A name is not just a label. In entertainment, especially games, a name is a message. It tells your audience what to expect. It sets the tone. It creates the first impression. It’s the first domino in the entire marketing experience. And “Battlefield 6” is a weak first domino.
From a creative and marketing standpoint, the name Battlefield 6 is lazy and uninspired. It sounds like a placeholder that somehow got approved by a committee afraid of taking risks. You could almost hear the boardroom conversation: “Let’s just call it Battlefield 6. Everyone already refers to it that way. We’ll ride the familiarity. That’s good enough.”
Except it’s not good enough.
This isn't the same era as Battlefield 3 and 4, where numbers carried momentum and continuity. The franchise is now in a recovery phase after the commercial and critical disaster of Battlefield 2042. The next entry needed to be bold. It needed to feel like a fresh start. Calling it “Battlefield 6” undermines all of that and tells players: “This is just another one in the pile.”
When Battlefield 1 was announced in 2016, the name shocked people. Why “1”? Because it was set in World War I, sure, but more importantly, it represented a restart. A fresh aesthetic. An ambitious tone. The name, the trailer, the music, they all aligned. It worked. The marketing was bold, confident, and clear. There's a reason why Battlefield 1 is still regarded so high by a lot of people, even if the game was not that good objectively. Another topic for another day.
Battlefield V (yes, the “V” as in Roman numeral five) followed Battlefield 1, but its title caused confusion. Was it the fifth Battlefield? Not really. The actual fifth mainline title came years earlier (Battlefield 4), and the “V” was supposed to stand for “Victory” in a World War II context. But the messaging didn’t land. Worse, the game itself lacked a clear vision, caught between historical shooter and live-service experimentation. The community was confused, the post-launch plan fell apart, and Battlefield V became a cautionary tale: when you name a game without understanding what that name represents, you undermine everything else.
Now we have Battlefield 6 - a title that’s just as confusing, just as tone-deaf, and even more damaging in the current state of the franchise. It says, “This is just another sequel.” And after 2042, that’s not what this franchise needed.
Let’s compare that to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), a game that should have faced the exact same issues. The original Modern Warfare trilogy was iconic. Naming a new game after it could have easily backfired. But Activision and Infinity Ward committed fully to the reboot: new engine, new tone, new campaign direction, new multiplayer systems, and a completely different Warzone ecosystem that followed. The name Modern Warfare wasn’t just nostalgia, it was a statement: “Forget everything you thought you knew. We’re building this from the ground up.”
And it worked. Confusing at first? Sure. But Modern Warfare 2019 became a massive commercial and critical success because it followed through. The name matched the ambition behind the game. The brand was reborn.
By contrast, Battlefield 6 tells us there’s no fresh start. No reinvention. No confidence. It says, “Here’s another Battlefield, just like the last ones. Please buy it.”
If this were truly the “new era” we’ve been promised, a rebuilt "engine", a reimagined multiplayer ecosystem, a battle royale integration, a reboot of the tone and structure, it should have had a name bold enough to match. Just calling it Battlefield would have been better. That would have at least implied a restart. “Battlefield 6” says, “We didn’t know what else to call it, and we’re scared to try anything different.”
Why This Matters More Than You Think:
Casual fans might say, “It’s just a name.” But we’ve been doing this long enough to know, it’s never just a name.
The name represents the creative intent. And this name tells us:
There is no coherent long-term franchise strategy.
This game is likely not a platform, but another standalone product in a sea of disconnected games.
EA may be preparing to recoup investment rather than lay groundwork for the future.
Internally, the game may be rushed, underdelivered, or treated as a stopgap while work begins on something else. Which of course means, lacklustre live-service with bare minimum content for Battlefield 6
And that brings us to the critical point: what happens next?
Let’s assume Battlefield 6 is a soft reboot of the franchise. Cool. But what’s the next game called? Battlefield 7? Battlefield 6.5? Another random subtitle like Battlefield Exodus? This is where the branding trap becomes clear, because if you’ve committed to a numbered naming scheme again, what happens when the next creative team wants to pivot or reimagine the franchise again in five years?
“Battlefield 7” makes zero sense if Battlefield 6 is already supposed to be a franchise reset. But if it’s not a reset, then why are we still building off a line that includes 2042, Hardline, V, 1, and so on?
The reality is this: Battlefield 6 tells us EA has no roadmap for the franchise’s identity. They’re making one game at a time, not building toward a unified platform or creative universe like Call of Duty has with its rebooted Modern Warfare series. There’s no MCU-style plan. No brand architecture. No clarity on where the story, the tech, the multiplayer mechanics and features, or the long-term franchise will go.
And without that clarity, the Battlefield community is stuck in an endless cycle of: Release, Collapse, Reset, Repeat. It’s exhausting. And it kills community confidence.
What to Expect:
Despite the red flags, it’s not all doom. Leaks suggest the multiplayer gameplay might actually be solid. It could launch in a "playable" state, maybe even an enjoyable one. And the community, starved for good Battlefield content, will likely welcome anything that’s at least decent.
But let’s be real about what this means:
Battlefield 6 may be okay, but it won’t be transformational.
Post-launch support is likely to be light and scattered.
DICE and EA are again stuck in short-term cycles with no long-term vision.
This won’t deliver the “100 million players” vision EA is floating, unless it becomes a unified, living platform, which seems extremely unlikely now.
We want Battlefield to succeed. We’ve built a podcast, a website, and a community around this series. But we also owe it to our audience and the franchise, to tell the truth.
And the truth is this: the next Battlefield title being called Battlefield 6 is not a good sign. It’s not just a name. It’s a message. And that message is: "We’re not ready to lead, so we’ll follow what’s safe."
We hope we’re wrong. We hope the game surprises us. But right now, everything about this reveal process, all the behind the scenes development problems, singleplayer about to be probably scrapped, points to a franchise still lost in the fog.
This article is brought to you by the Battlefield One Podcast, where we break down announcements like this, analyze gameplay footage, and track the development of Battlefield week to week. Whether you're new to the franchise or a returning veteran, follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you listen, and get the full picture behind the frontlines.
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