Battlefield 6 launch day is upon us, and it sounds like going forward, we can expect Battlefield Labs to play a "staple" part in the development of the FPS series.
Battlefield Labs is a space where the FPS' devs can test out different mechanics and concepts by allowing players to get their hands on them, essentially allowing for a constant stream of community feedback in a more concentrated setting. It's invite-only, so the doors aren't wide open – although you might not have thought so considering the amount of leaks that have surfaced from it – but regardless, it's already been helping shape Battlefield 6.
Speaking in issue 415 of the PC Gamer magazine, lead producer Nika Bender and design director Salim Fasahat discuss the community-led approach. "Developing on a live game, you can easily get players' feedback. BF Labs is our way of getting players' feedback during development time, while we can still address it," Bender says.
"Battlefield Labs has been a big part of dev for this game, and moving forward, it'll probably be a staple of development for us, to be honest," Fasahat adds. "I think some of that testing is weapons-related. I know there was a lot of time-to-kill and time-to-death stuff that the community was raising, and these are part of some explorations and tweaks that we're currently testing in Labs."
Bender says that an "unspoken pillar of our development is how much we believe in the power of tapping into the community and what the community wants." She adds that "there's a lot of new takes, a lot of exploration and a lot of experimentation," since the team "still wanted to create a completely new Battlefield experience" despite tapping into "fan favorites" Battlefield 3 and 4 – inspiration that the team has been very open about.
Following what the community wants is often a key to success with live-service games, so it sounds like a promising approach here, although the team has previously acknowledged that "you can't just let players design for you."
While you're here, be sure to check out our Battlefield 6 review, as well as the Battlefield 6 roadmap to see what's coming to the game.
