Disclaimer: This article contains comments from an interview conducted before EA announced layoffs across Battlefield Studios.
Battlefield Studios says it plans to listen to and work with the Battlefield 6 community for “a very long time” as it continues post-launch support with Season 2: Nightfall while dealing with an unsatisfied fanbase.
IGN caught up with Ripple Effect studio design director Justin Wiebe to learn more about how the team is adapting to feedback in response to mixed opinions from fans. And as it and the rest of the four-studio group that makes up BF Studios prepares to launch Season 2 Phase 2: Nightfall on March 17, there’s one thing Wiebe said he wanted fans to know: “We’re listening, and we’re reacting, and it’s going to continue that way for a very long time.”
“We’re getting amazing feedback from the community, and we’re constantly trying to strive to make the best game possible,” Wiebe said when talking about BF Studio’s efforts to communicate with fans. “So we appreciate the community’s time that they take to share the details of what’s working and what’s not working for them, and we take it very seriously.”
Reactions to Season 1 and the Season 2 delay left Battlefield 6 in a rough spot, but it didn’t start that way. In fact, the latest installment in the classic EA FPS franchise eventually became the best-selling game of 2025 after launching for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S last October. We gave its multiplayer an 8/10 at the time, with the entry managing to receive strong reviews from both critics and fans in the weeks following its release. Where it’s run into trouble is everything that’s come after, with fans bombarding social media feeds with calls for bigger maps, progression and gameplay adjustments, grounded cosmetics, and more in the months since.
As concerns and critiques have mounted, we asked Wiebe if BF Studios has felt the need to shift its post-launch strategy to give players’ feedback more weight. Although there’s no doubt the community has played an important role both after and before the launch of Battlefield 6, he says the answer isn’t so simple.
For him, including testing done with the pre-launch Battlefield Labs program, the project at launch is the dev team’s vision. After that, it becomes something more.
“So, for me, once we’ve launched the game, it’s in the community’s hands to give us feedback. It becomes our game now. All feedback is important, and we weigh the community feedback, but also, like I said, we look at the data of what’s actually going on in telemetry. Sometimes it can be a perception problem. Sometimes it’s actually like, no, both sources of information are saying, ‘This is a big problem, and therefore we need to stop the plans we were going to do and redirect and start focusing on the things that we’re seeing identified.’”
He continued: “That’s the main thing to take away here: It’s not like, ‘Hey, we crafted this massive plan, and we’re going to hold to it.’ It’s like, no. Anything can change based on what is going on with the community, what is going on with the feedback, and what we’re seeing from the game.”
Battlefield 6 and the BF Studios team will continue when the Nightfall update adds night modes, the new Hagental Base map, weapons, and more next week. A third phase for Season 2, Hunter/Prey, will then add more content come April 14. There’s no word yet regarding Season 3 or when it may launch.
For more, you can read our full interview with Wiebe. You can also read up on our other interview with more members of Ripple Effect from shortly after Battlefield 6’s launch. Be sure to also check out how the BF Studios team responded to fan feedback regarding cosmetics like stickers and infantry skins in the past.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
