I understand why most modern shooters lean on matchmaking — it’s quick, it’s clean, and it gets people into games fast. That’s fine, and Battlefield should absolutely keep matchmaking front and centre.

But there’s no reason why we can’t also have the community tools that made older Battlefield titles special: private servers, a proper server browser, and larger party sizes. And honestly, EA could even monetise this — just like in the past — by offering private server rentals.

Parties & Squads

Now, I can live with a 4-man squad. I get that it’s workable for gameplay balance.
But what really feels missing is the ability to party up with more friends before jumping into a match.

In Battlefield 3 and 4, squads were 5 players. That gave you more flexibility and let you roll with a bigger group of mates.
In today’s shooters, we often see squads capped at 3. It’s as if no one has friends anymore. Battlefield should be the exception, not the rule.
The real draw of older Battlefield titles wasn’t just the chaos, it was the social aspect: logging into Battlelog, checking what the clan was doing, and piling into a server together.

Community Example

Back in the BF4 days, my old clan Skyhawks Australia ran a private server that often had an entire side filled with clan members. That’s what made Battlefield special. It wasn’t just random matchmaking — it was community spaces where groups could play together night after night.

Yes, Portal allows us to spin up a temporary server if we can organise those numbers. But it’s not the same as having a persistent server with tools like RCON to actually run it.

The Current Situation

• Squads are capped at 4, and so are parties.
• If 8 or 12 friends want to play together, there’s no way to queue up and guarantee being on the same team (let alone the same match).
• With no server browser, we can’t even pick a server to join as a group — matchmaking just splits us apart.

My Proposal

• Keep 4-man squads if needed, but raise the party cap to 8–12 players. Once in-game, balance can split us into multiple squads, but at least we stay together on the same team.
• Reintroduce a server browser, so clans and communities can find servers and fill them up.
• Offer private servers (with admin tools) as a paid feature. Communities want them, and EA has a revenue opportunity here.

Why This Matters

Battlefield has always been about epic battles and social play. The current system covers solo players and small squads, but it leaves larger friend groups and communities behind.

Battlefield should be the game where having a dozen mates online is a feature, not a problem.