EA (Electronic Arts) might be sitting on a blockbuster, as over 9,000 players jumped into the Battlefield 6 open beta on Steam right after pre-loads went live – to wait in menus and tweak settings.
You could pre-load the Battlefield 6 open beta as early as 8 am PT on August 4, giving eager fans a head start on downloading the game ahead of early access, which officially opens at 1 am PT on August 7.
Surprisingly, even before the beta went live, the hype was already in full swing. According to data from SteamDB, the Battlefield 6 open beta saw a peak of 9,463 concurrent Players – even though the gameplay hadn’t yet begun. Most users were likely idling in menus, tweaking settings, or simply preparing to jump in the moment access opened.
So, what are players doing in the Open beta? Since the game isn’t live yet, many are using this time to get a head start by adjusting their settings. Some are spending time tuning things like user interface colors, weapon Field of View (FOV), Keybindings, graphics settings, and even testing how the game runs on their systems. It’s a chance for players to be fully prepared the moment early access begins.
Some players are also running into issues with EA’s PC launch requirements. The Battlefield 6 open beta won’t run unless Secure Boot is enabled in your computer’s BIOS, which has frustrated many. So, some are just trying to get past this hurdle so they can even open the game.
As many have noticed, almost as many people were just waiting in the Battlefield 6 open beta menu as were in Battlefield 2042 on Steam. The beta had a 24-hour peak of 9,463, while Battlefield 2042 had 11,245. That’s pretty surprising and shows just how much hyped the new Battlefield 6 has generated for players.
So, what does this mean for Battlefield 6? From EA’s point of view, it shows that there’s a lot of interest in the game. EA has said that it’s fully committed to making Battlefield6 a success. The producer of Battlefield 6, Jeremy Chubb, has said that fan-favorite Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was a “huge inspiration” for developing the shooter’s upcoming installment.
In short, the strong early interest in the beta hints at a promising start – but the real test will come once players finally get into action.
