Responding to problems in a live-service game is like having a 'big clock,' says Battlefield 6 director: 'You measure and value your time to the player' so they know you're paying attention
There was a brief, beautiful moment when everybody seemed happy with Battlefield 6. Sure, there was some grousing about map sizes and progression. But its return to modern-military gunplay with a big lick of destruction won over even the most cynical of multiplayer FPS heads.
But then its battle royale mode Redsec came out, and the live-service gears shrieked into motion with a disappointing new map and weekly challenges that mandated battle royale play, putting a decisive end to Battlefield 6's honeymoon period.
With BF Studios rushing to quell these issues as Steam reviews drop to Mixed, Battlefield 6's developers have also addressed the situation. Speaking to IGN, design director Justin Wiebe assured players that the studio is "always listening".
"As soon as the game launched, we had people kind of looking at all forms of player communication, and taking notes and saying, ‘OK, well, we had planned to do this in live service, but we're hearing that this is a problem for the community'," Wiebe explained. "If it's a problem for the community, then let's talk about it. Let's see how we can prioritize that."
Wiebe also discussed BF Studios' approach to responding to issues brought up by the community in a live-service scenario. "I always say, live service, you have a big clock," he says. "Every time there's a player issue, you start the clock and you measure and value your time to the player, so that you can make sure that the player and the community knows that we're listening, and we're going to be able to do what we can to react."
But addressing problems the community raises must also be balanced against the game's existing roadmap. "We're also weighing that against our future ambitions of all the different content and experiences we want to create from live services, because this is just the beginning of the experience, and we want to make sure that we're addressing player feedback, and we're also adding new and exciting experiences for players to play."
While this provides some interesting insight into the studio's mindset, it isn't that substantive in terms of addressing the issues Redsec suffered from at launch. But Wiebe was a little more direct about how the studio will approach changes to Redsec's map, Fort Lyndon, as seasonal updates progress.
"When we do map updates, if we're going to spend a bunch of time working on the map, I want to make sure that it's additive to the player experience," he explained. "That it's not just a quick cosmetic hit, right? That there's new fun things to explore there. It adds to gameplay in new and meaningful ways."
Wiebe doesn't say anything about future maps coming to Battlefield 6, though perhaps that's because a brand new map, named Eastwood, arrives early next week. Rory Norris spent a few hours rumbling around Eastwood in October, and came away impressed: "This is, by far, the most intense yet breathable map in Battlefield 6, but what struck me is how instantly iconic it felt."
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