EA’s DICE studio has blown the lid off the multiplayer for its upcoming military shooter Battlefield 6, and can join the fray today. Battlefield 6’s first public beta is live right now for those with early access and will be available on two consecutive weekends. It’s not too late to get join in, and here’s how.
The Battlefield 6 open betas will be the first chances for players to experience the game’s multiplayer before its full release on Oct. 10. Those with early access can begin playing right now. For everyone else, the first open beta weekend will start at 1 a.m. PT Aug. 9 through Aug. 11 and the second will kick off at 1 a.m. PT Aug. 14 and run through Aug. 16.
Fans can visit Battlefield’s website to get info for the open beta, which just requires linking your EA account to your platform account — though PC players will also have to configure their system to Secure Boot as well (see below).
The beta will be playable on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S.
When does the Battlefield 6 beta start and what are the weekend dates?
- Aug. 7-8: Early access, which started at 1 a.m. PT on Aug. 7.
- Aug. 9-10: First open beta weekend available to all, starting at 1 a.m. PT on Aug. 9 and closing Aug. 11 at 1 a.m. PT. (The Aug. 10 close is for those in the UTC time zone.)
- Aug. 14-16: Second open beta weekend available to all, starting at 1 a.m. PT on Aug. 14 and closing Aug. 17 at 1 a.m. PT.
How to access the Battlefield 6 open beta
As this is an open beta, getting access is pretty easy. Simply download the Battlefield 6 beta client from your preferred platform. This includes the PS5, Xbox Series X and S, Steam, Epic Games Store or the EA app.
Preloading the Battlefield 6 beta started on Aug. 4. Doing a preload means you’ll be able to jump on the beta as soon as it’s available instead of waiting for it to download on the day of access.
How to play Battlefield 6 early
Those who checked out the Battlefield 6 preview stream were made aware of early access for the beta. If you watched your favorite Battlefield streamer last Thursday, you can get an early access key to start playing now.
DICE is also adding additional days to get an early access code for those who missed out last week. Those interested will need to watch streamers playing Battlefield 6 for 30 minutes on Aug. 7 or 8 to get another code drop. There are a few steps needed for Aug. 7 in order to get the early access code for the beta:
- Sign in to your Twitch account.
- Link your Twitch account to your EA account.
- Watch a single streamer participating in the Battlefield 6 Early Access Beta Key Drops for 30 minutes — if you’re having trouble finding one, search for «Battlefield 6» and look for streams that include «Beta Key Drops» or often just «Drops» in their titles.
- Once earned, find your beta key access in your Drops Inventory.
- Redeem this beta key access code on Battlefield 6’s code redemption website.
Players who have participated in Battlefield Labs, studio DICE’s prerelease feedback program for the game, will be granted early access to play the beta starting Aug. 7. The same goes for EA Play Pro subscribers.
Battlefield 6 beta preload download links
Here are the download links for each platform:
Battlefield 6 beta maps
EA revealed the rotation of maps for the Battlefield 6 open beta weekends.
For the first weekend of Aug. 9-10, the maps will be:
- Liberation Peak: A large mountainous desert.
- Siege of Cairo: An urban battlefield in the heart of Egypt.
- Iberian Offensive: Tall buildings for fun times.
The second weekend of Aug. 14-17 will include the first weekend maps, plus:
- Empire State: A close-quarters NYC map.
Battlefield 6 beta game modes
Just like with the maps, each weekend will also feature certain game modes.
The modes for the first weekend will be:
- Conquest
- Closed Weapon Conquest
- Domination
- King of the Hill
- Breakthrough
Then on the second weekend of the beta, it will be the previous modes along with:
- Rush
- Squad Deathmatch
- And more (DICE did not provide specifics)
PC-specific notice for Battlefield 6 beta
A special note if you haven’t played a Battlefield game on PC recently: Studio DICE and EA recently started requiring players to set their computers to Secure Boot when playing Battlefield games to combat cheaters, and Battlefield 6 is no different. To even play the open beta, you’ll need to delve into your BIOS and switch your PC to Secure Boot — check EA’s guide for help.