The last time a Battlefield game had me this excited to hear more news was exactly twenty years ago. After a strong showing with its World War 2 and Vietnam entries, DICE took a gamble by moving the franchise straight into the (then) modern era. The result was, dare I say, the finest accessible large-scale combat game ever made.
Battlefield 2 had a lot in common withBattlefield 6. It promised a reasonably grounded premise that evolved out of geopolitical tensions of the time, tight gunplay, and a completely revamped approach to classes and weapons. It played smoothly, looked beautiful, and it’s no surprise to see that some of the most popular tactical shooters today are still copying that formula.
My last week or so has been completely immersed in Battlefield 6. Days were spent watching Battlefield events,writing about Battlefield, and after the work was done, it was time to sit down and play Battlefield… or the next best thing, until the beta floodgates opened.
While I mostly found respite inHell Let Loose, it wasDelta Forcethat captured my attention. The free-to-play game had a strong PC launch late last year, and it has almostdoubled its player count since, but cruel timing has put its future in jeopardy.
Delta Force’s future is now inexorably tied to Battlefield 6. This is as much of a curse as it is an opportunity, and depending on how the month plays out, the underdog might just come out on top here.
Tempo, Tempo, Tempo
It goes without saying that making a good game in the first place is the deciding factor for a title’s success, but one cannot overstate the importance of timing. For the better part of the last year, publishers left and right have been panicking toavoid sharing a spotwithGTA 6. Its inevitable delay led to a flurry of announcements,including Battlefield 6, trying to squeeze in before May 2026.
There is only so much room and attention span in the world, so it’s only logical that developers and publishers try to avoid sharing the room with a behemoth. Unfortunately for Delta Force,a seemingly harmless call made earlier in the yearhas put it in Hell in a Cell against the biggest FPS launch in recent history.
The Delta Force console launch isscheduled for August 19th. The Battlefield 6 open beta wraps up on August 17th, and that includes the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 versions of the game.
Did EA pick these test dates intentionally? Probably not, but you could hardly blame them if they did.When else do you have the chance of raining directly on a major rival’s parade, especially with such short notice that they cannot realistically reschedule?
Battlefield 6 EA Play And EA Play Pro Benefits Revealed
It might be worth signing up just to get access to the early access open beta.
Delta Force is an awkward little duck in terms of niches with the extraction-orientedOperationsanda cinematic campaign, but the game’s bread and butter is Warfare. It’d be wrong to call it anything other than a copy of Battlefield’s Conquest mode, but that’s a criticism that can also be leveled at alllarge-scale shooters like Squad.
After a few weekends basking in the glory of the latest and greatest with the Battlefield 6 open beta, it’s easy to see howplayers might want to just wait it out until October rather than go play with the ‘leftovers’ at Delta Force.
EA (and all the companies in a trench coat that make up Battlefield Studios) has backed Delta Force into a corner, and it is capable of easily outmarketing and outspending its free-to-play competitor.
Hell,not even Call of Duty is safe—despiteBlack Ops 6being one ofthe franchise’s best recent launches, Steam data shows the Battlefield 6 open beta has almost twice the number of players as Call of Duty had around the BO6 release.
Sure, a free trial does not mean every player will buy into the game once it’s out, but you’d be foolish to believe this won’t be the biggest FPS release of the decade.
The Underdog Fantasy
Now, the most likely scenario indeed has Battlefield 6 steamrolling Delta Force’s console release, but what if the small guy stands a chance? Can Battlefield fall victim to its newfound hubris?
While most of the gaming world is fawning over destruction (myself included, sending snipers to the shadow realm by demolishing their cover never gets old), there’s a crescendo of voices complaining that beneath the crisp movement and awe-inspiring audiovisual spectacle, the game has a scale problem.
Even on Liberation Peak, the largest map currently available, you’ll find yourself getting shot at within 30 seconds of spawning. If it’s not a SMG gremlin near your spawn area, it’s one of the seventeen scope glints in the mountain. All maps available in the Battlefield 6 open beta are a manic meatgrinder where both teams throw bodies at the point without any serious tactical consideration.
Yes, it’s entertaining, but after you do that dance a couple of times, it feels like you’re playing a good, modern Call of Duty. There’s plenty of value in that, not least becauseActivision is in serious need of a bruisingafter years of uninspired multiplayer, but I’ve yet to play a BF6 round that makes me think ‘yes, this is Battlefield’.
Battlefield 6 designdirector Shashank Uchil has had something to sayabout this already. According to him, “scale is not everything”, but while I empathize with the sentiment, there is a critical point where lack of scale starts negatively affecting the experience, no matter how great the map is.
Now, Delta Force might not offer something like the urban hell of Battlefield 2’s Karkand, buteven its smallest Warfare map is a decent bit bigger than what Battlefield 6 has on offer right now. The time-to-kill is comparable between both games, but since you have more room between you and the enemy upon spawning, Delta Force gives a taste of that Battlefield (and old school Battlefront) quasi-tactical feeling that is currently MIA on the latest and greatest.
Another secret weapon in the Delta Force arsenal is the Black Hawk Down campaign. Despite itspoor reviews, it is one of the best co-op experiences in the market. The levels are just long enough to matter, and while it is indeed miserable to play alone, you’ll be able to just hit up your friends who can quickly download a free game and jump in. Meanwhile, the Battlefield 6 campaign is only going to be playable upon release in October, and it’s hard to say whether it’ll hold up to the hype.
If the status quo is maintained, and Battlefield does not throw a bone to players looking for a more grandiose experience, it might just leave the door open enough for Delta Force to nick some console players before the big release. As Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna famously said, “if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you’re no longer a AAA game publisher”, or something to that effect.
Delta Force has found itself in the next-worst predicament to coming out on the same day as GTA 6.This month will determine whether it beats all odds to come out on top or finally end up in a crisisafter months of continuous growth.
