Battlefield 6 - Community Update - Battlefield Labs Season 2 Testing and Beyond
Hey everyone, We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to jump back into the action as Battlefield Labs kicks off the new year. As we mentioned in our January Update blog, we’re using Labs to further polish and refine Season 2 content, validating changes and making final tuning adjustments ahead of launch while continuing to apply what we learn as we evolve the experience. In this next session, we’ll be testing content on one of Season 2’s new maps: Contaminated. We’ll be evaluating how vehicle gameplay and aerial presence interact with infantry combat, alongside cover and asset placement, and objective boundaries. We’ll also be testing how the map’s unique gameplay mechanics function in live matches, as well as the tools available to players to interact with them. While we’re saving full details on the new map for a later time, we can share that in terms of size, Contaminated falls between Eastwood and Mirak Valley, and is comparable to classic Battlefield maps such as St. Quentin Scar (Battlefield 1) or Arras (Battlefield V). Alongside our Season 2 map testing, upcoming Battlefield Labs sessions will also include a handful of additional gameplay-focused tests. This includes early testing of the AH-6 Little Bird ahead of its planned arrival in Season 2, allowing us to evaluate how it fits within the broader vehicle ecosystem and how it performs across different combat scenarios. On the Horizon Looking further ahead, we’ll be running more exploratory tests across aircraft and vehicle combat systems. This includes initial testing of Aircraft Radar, an important part of the aircraft gameplay experience and a system we’re actively evaluating as part of future air combat improvements. In parallel, we’ll be exploring a tuning package focused on rocket and vehicle interactions, including early adjustments to weapons such as RPGs and TOW launchers, as well as vehicle handling considerations when countering rockets. Future testing will also validate improvements we’re making to hit registration and overall combat consistency, as it is one of the more complex areas of development. We spoke with Lead Producer David Sirland, who emphasized that “these issues are rarely tied to a single change, but instead require careful iteration across multiple systems, extensive testing, and time to validate results at scale.” This work includes a number of changes currently in development, with some improvements planned to arrive earlier in Season 2 and additional, more impactful updates in the coming months. Battlefield Labs will help us test, iterate, and validate these improvements as they progress, including scenarios where players may be eliminated after reaching cover, often referred to as “death behind cover” or desync-related behavior. We also have plans to bring a fan-favorite map from Battlefield 4 into Battlefield Labs, prior to it going live in a future season: Golmud Railway. Golmud Railway is being rebuilt for today’s Battlefield, not simply ported forward. Our goal is to preserve what made the map so memorable in Battlefield 4, particularly its combined arms gameplay, while improving how it plays and supports Battlefield 6 systems. Golmud is planned to be the largest Battlefield 6 map to date, giving us the opportunity to expand gameplay on a larger scale. We’re bringing Golmud into Battlefield Labs early as this will be a multi-session project. Through Labs, we want to test changes such as larger flight space, increased cover for aircraft, and other adjustments as the map evolves over time. We’ll share more details on timing and how to take part in upcoming play sessions at a later date. Battle Royale Solos Testing We’re also continuing internal and exploratory testing around Battle Royale Solo play, as we evaluate how different player configurations impact pacing, balance, and the overall Battle Royale experience. This work is focused on understanding where Solo play can best fit within the broader Battle Royale roster, including how it affects match flow, survivability, and long-term engagement when featured alongside other Battle Royale experiences. These tests are part of our ongoing effort to make informed decisions about how Battle Royale is structured and presented over time, rather than committing to a single permanent configuration. Any future player-facing testing would be approached with the goal of learning and validation, and we’ll share more details ahead of time if and when those tests are planned. As always, when testing does take place, clear guidance on participation and feedback will be provided so we can evaluate how the experience performs in real matches. Get Involved We’re looking forward to getting back into Battlefield Labs and continuing to build the future of Battlefield alongside you. Battlefield Labs play sessions are an important part of how we test, iterate, and refine new ideas, and your participation helps guide where we go next. If you’re interested in taking part, you can learn more about Battlefield Labs and sign up for EA Playtesting on our website. To stay up to date on all things Battlefield, including Battlefield Labs updates, we also recommend joining the official Battlefield Discord. We’ll see you in Labs! //The Battlefield Team This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible. Battlefield Labs participation remains subject to NDA, which means no sharing of screenshots, videos, or any of the content that is being tested. The timing and details of tests are confirmed via email to invited participants, so make sure you use an email address you frequently check when signing up.
Conquest Missing Asset Loop
Morning folks, The team is aware of and investigating the Conquest issue. We've determined that its due to a missing asset for one of the backgrounds, which is why it doesn't happen each attempt you go into a Conquest attempt. This will hopefully be fixed in this weeks update. Once fixed, I will discuss with the team about some form of compensation. Thank you.
The Weekly Grind - Jan 20, 2026
Welcome back to The Weekly Grind. Let’s get to it! What’s going on? Update 0.29.6 dropped today, focusing on bug fixes as we prepare for Spring Pop-Off on Feb 10, 2026. If you haven’t yet, check the patch notes for details on what the team worked on for this update. Coming up, the team is working on the next update with more fixes - and once we’ve got a client candidate locked, we’ll share timelines on when it will deploy and what will be included. Spring Pop-Off will start Feb 10, and we’ll have details coming through the week before to get you ready for the last in-game event for Season 2. Our T-Shirt UGC contest has ended, winners have been selected, and we’ll be working with them and the studio to get their designs in-game. We’ll share designs in the coming weeks once they’re finalized. We were so stoked on the community’s participation and awesome submissions, so we’re working on plans for our next community UGC contest. Weekly Calendar The Weekly Grind returns (that’s today) Update 0.29.6 is live Skate. Community ImpervaTEK Video Contest starting Jan 23, 2026 Coming Up Spring Pop-Off Details skate. "Show Us Your Fit" Screenshot Contest Update 0.29.7 Season 3 details Reminder: Check out the blog for more details and how you can contribute to these skateboarding charitable organizations to help support and continue growing skateboarding globally - and get some in-game gear as a special thank you from the organizations. More content from the skate. community! As usual, we wanted to share a few pieces of content that caught our eye. Remember: if you want to possibly be featured in The Weekly Grind, make sure to share yours (screenshots, videos, clips) via skate.reel. Pool parties hit different on the top of a skyrise, Credit: Lostgirl Reppin’ some new gear in Gullcrest Community Park, Credit: Kenji Part of The Weekly Grind will be dedicated to sharing current Known Issues the team is tracking for bugs & issues, any active deployments/fixes, and next steps. Fixed on January 20 in Update 0.29.6: Players are unable to progress through tutorial challenges while subtitles are turned off. The score multiplier takes a lot longer to drain on a loaded game server than an empty one. After exiting Skatepedia, traffic, pedestrians and other players could disappear. Fixed an issue where crackling or distorted audio could happen while using voice over IP. And more… Make sure to check the full 0.29.6 Patch Notes for all fixes from the Jan 20, 2026 update. Known Issues Still Being Investigated: Players are claiming missing Founders and Deluxe items. Players gradually become invisible after a certain period of gameplay. During the Stop, Quick Drop, and Roll Mission, the fliptrick over cars criterion doesn't seem to track until after you complete all of the other criteria. Often during the tutorial, if you wipeout during the Ollie Course, Vee's line about being off board will loop infinitely. Workaround: Restarting skate. has been reported to fix this issue. Exported videos are longer than their displayed in-game length. There is an additional stuttering issue present when using the replay editor in-game, noticeable as skipped frames. Sometimes, putting the game on fullscreen and leaving it minimized for three or four minutes will prevent the player from re-opening it until the game is restarted. Often, the Team Up, Throw Down mission does not end until the player untracks and retracks the mission. The player needs to press the Back button twice for the missions menu to close. The Throwdowns queue timer freezes after all other players leave the queue. When logging out in a community park and logging in again, the tasks won´t count. Rarely, when interacting with a player and joining their party, you will accidentally join another player’s party. The speech-to-text feature does not transcribe the words correctly. Rarely, the Back button has no functionality, and the player cannot exit the Replay Editor.Skate. 0.29.6 Patch Notes
0.29.6 Patch Notes|All Platforms|Live on January 20 No Maintenance/Downtime; Update will start rolling out Jan 20, 2026 at 9AM PT. If in-game, you will need to relog to get the client update. Bug Fixes Fixed an issue where your progression could be halted if subtitles were turned off. Fixed an issue where resolution could be unintentionally reduced to 480p. Fixed an issue on PlayStation 5 where the resolution could be stuck at 640p. Fixed an issue where the score multiplier clock and real time didn’t match because of server load. Fixed an issue where sound effects were missing for other skaters. Fixed an issue where the Accessibility menu failed to display while loading into skate for your first time. Fixed an issue where you could place more Quick Drop items than allowed. Developer’s Note: This fix was implemented to prevent instances where more Quick Drop items than intended are placed in San Van, causing performance issues for all skaters. Fixed a lighting issue that misrepresented the appearance of other skaters in San Van. Fixed an issue where your board wasn’t visible in menus after entering and exiting skate.Pass. Fixed an issue where other skaters, traffic, or pedestrians could disappear after using skatepedia. Fixed a few incorrectly placed Gesture visual effects. Fixed an issue where incorrect messaging was displayed when exporting videos. Fixed multiple thumbnails that did not accurately represent their items. Fixed an issue where crackling or distorted audio could happen while using voice over IP. Fixed various stability and performance issues.Datacron Release Adjustment
Hello Holotable Heroes, My apologies for the lack of post about this, chalking it up to the holiday hangover. The release cadence of Datacrons has always been a bit awkward with Conquests, and Eras have put a spotlight onto that. To better align our content in a more cohesive way, we have tweaked the timing for Datacrons. Instead of releasing every other month and lasting for 4 months, Datacrons will now release each month and last for 3 months. To account for this increased release schedule, we will be lowering the complexity of each set with the goal of it being a net neutral amount of information to keep in your brains. We will monitor the impact of these adjustments and as always, your feedback is important to the team, so please share with us your thoughts as you interact with these adjustments. Edit information added: Starting with Set 26, Reroll costs for Datacron between Level 4 and 6 have been halved. We have reduced the amount of factions per set from 4 to 2, which should make it easier for you to get the affixes you’re going afterBATTLEFIELD 6 GAME UPDATE 1.1.3.5
With Update 1.1.3.5, we’re delivering a smaller set of focused improvements aimed at polish and consistency across Battlefield 6. This update enhances melee responsiveness, refines jet combat, improves ladder interactions, and resolves UI and HUD issues in Multiplayer and REDSEC, alongside fixes for Battle Royale and Gauntlet stability. The update will be available on Tuesday, January 20, at 9 AM UTC (1 AM PDT, 4 AM EDT, 10 AM CET). Major Updates for 1.1.3.5 Improved responsiveness, consistency, and sprint behavior for melee attacks, including knives and the sledgehammer. Updated jet combat balance by reducing jet cannon effectiveness against other air vehicles. Updated and refined the UI and HUD across Multiplayer and REDSEC, improving armor bar visibility, reticle presentation, and menu navigation. CHANGELOG VEHICLES: Fixed an issue where vehicles could explode when a takedown was performed on an enemy soldier lying on top of them. Reduced jet cannon damage against other jets and helicopters, requiring approximately 40% more hits to destroy enemy air targets. WEAPONS: Bipod attachments no longer display as always providing a hipfire accuracy bonus, as this bonus only applies while the bipod is deployed. Fixed an issue where the GRIM 1.50x optic on the DB-12 cost fewer loadout points than intended (15 instead of 25). Fixed an issue where the RPKM iron sights would shoot low when using the short barrel. Fixed an issue where the TR-7 Light Barrel incorrectly improved muzzle velocity. Fixed bipod mount input behaviour for Alternate, Lefty Alternate, Southpaw, and Legacy Southpaw presets so the bipod mount now follows the melee button. Improved attack speed for knife melee attacks. Improved buffering behaviour for knife and sledgehammer attacks. Improved consistency of melee damage timing against enemies and the environment. Improved consistency of recoil modifiers when using a controller across different weapons. Improved how sprint is interrupted when performing melee attacks. Sprint is now only interrupted until the attack reaches its target, rather than for the full duration of the animation. In the Firing Range, target dummies can now take damage while in the process of getting back up. Shooting with a suppressor now emits a small muzzle flash when viewed from close range only. GADGETS: Fixed an issue where the GDPIS was not destroyed when targeted by the XFGM-6D Recon Drone, Defibrillators, or the Repair Tool. Fixed an issue where the Sniper Decoy did not properly hide scope glints from nearby snipers. Assault Ladder Fixed an issue where ladders positioned above the player could not be entered. Fixed an issue where soldiers could be launched unexpectedly when attempting to enter a ladder. Improved the soldier animations while climbing ladders. UI & HUD: Added a new option allowing players to customize the reticle colour inside weapon and gadget scopes. Fixed an issue where home screen focus navigation could become locked to the bulletin. Fixed cases where weapon menus displayed incorrect Reload Time stats for LMGs. Soldier lightning improvements to the front-end Improved front-end lighting to enhance the visual quality of soldier characters. The Reticle Colour option now correctly updates reticle colours for Thermal Scopes and other supported gadgets. VFX & Video: Adjusted explosion particle effects by lowering the shockwave force. REDSEC WEAPONS: Fixed an issue where jump landing movement speed reduction behaved inconsistently in REDSEC compared to other multiplayer experiences. MAP & MODES: Fixed an edge case in Gauntlet mode “Data Extraction” where the drone could disappear permanently if drives were deposited at the exact moment it landed. UI & HUD: Battle Royale Fixed an issue where the armor bar could disappear intermittently. Fixed an issue where the Airburst Incendiary Launcher icon appeared as a grenade in the loot feed. Gauntlet Fixed an issue where the armor bar could disappear after quickly editing a loadout. This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible.
Apex Legends: Latest Update - 01/14/2026
Hey legends, the team has pushed a number of fixes as a follow-up to the start of 27.1! Crypto: Crypto's drone is no longer displayed for a fraction of a second when deploying the drone on a zipline, balloon or Evac Tower. The appropriate ultimate icon is now displayed while in Crypto's drone view after selecting the Power Coupling upgrade. Crypto's hands no longer remain stuck in front of the camera after taking damage from a Caustic trap while in Drone view. Players are no longer able to spam the drone entering animation. Crypto's Ult now appropriately charges from scanning enemies, even if they remain within the scan. Octane: Stim Surge's animation now ends in alignment with the end of its effects - previously was misaligned when at low health with the Daredevil upgrade. Stim Surge's animation now ends in alignment with the end of its effects when taking damage in the ring. Base Stim model no longer overlaps with the Stim Surge Syringe. Players are no longer able to spam Octane's tactical when riding ziplines or ziprails with akimbo weapons equipped. Removed ghostly green bar that appeared when Octane performed two-handed actions while using Stim Surge. When activating Stim Surge while climbing, the correct model is displayed and players will no longer be locked out of using Stim Surge. Trident: Increased the volume of approaching Trident - it should be much more difficult to be caught by surprise. Caustics traps no longer attach to the Trident - it was way too deadly. Valkyrie no longer gets stuck in ultimate animation when interrupted by a Trident. New Player Pass: Level up animation now display the correct level. Various The post-game progress screen no longer displays old challenges. Various fixes/adjustments to Switch 2 shadow/lighting. Fixed a boot crash on some Nvidia machines.Amped Midseason Designer’s Notes
TLDR Designer’s Notes is a new update that will provide additional context to Legend and Weapon meta changes. We will discuss our vision for each Legend or Weapon, what challenges we’ve identified, and what changes we are making in pursuit of those goals. Designer’s notes are meant to supplement Patch Notes, not replace them. Below, we will discuss: Why we don’t always pick the lowest-pick, lowest-win Legends Changes to Octane, Newcastle, and Crypto Adjustments to Amps, R-301, Flatline, and Prowler INTRO Welcome to our first Designer’s Notes. Our goal is to openly discuss our intention and reasoning behind changes to various parts of Apex Legends for a given update. We’ll use this opportunity to give you the “why” around certain Legend and weapon changes and more details about the bigger picture meta. We are looking to provide transparency into our processes, spark discussion, and gather feedback from you all as we continue to work to make Apex the best it can be. Our aim with every game update is to shake up the meta to break any staleness, address pain points around balance, and reinvigorate the ranked climb. We do that by looking at the data from all the matches played across different skill bands and various in-game situations and by monitoring player feedback from our many community channels and online spaces. We are showing you the data here in an effort to be transparent and to further share the reasoning behind why we pick certain parts of the game to adjust. Give the blog a read through, play the game with your new knowledge in mind, and continue to discuss in community spaces. Your feedback is critical in helping us shape and sharpen Apex to be the best competitive game and battle royale it can be. METRIC DEFINITIONS Pick Rate - Measure of selection preference adjusting for legend availability (total selections / total times available to be selected) Legend Encounter Win Rate - Measure of legend fighting strength based on downs in fights (fights won / total fights) Share of Downs - Measure of weapon preference based on share of downs each weapon obtains (downs with weapon / total downs) Weapon Encounter Win Rate - Measure of weapon fighting strength based on downs in fights (fights won / total fights) LEGENDS WHY NOT LOWEST-PICK, LOWEST-WIN? You are likely aware of some Legends and weapons that have spent significant time at the bottom of the meta. For some of you, we see peaking frustrations when they happen to be your favorites. “So why aren’t they the priority for buffs each season?” It’s a good question! In these cases, the scope of the necessary changes is often so large that developing and testing requires more time than it would for smaller tweaks. For example we knew community conversations about Octane were bubbling at the start of last season - we had been actively working on his changes for a while and we just had to bite our tongue knowing that his buffs were just around the corner! Additionally, with a game the size of Apex Legends - 27 Legends, multiple game modes and maps, and an entire arsenal of weapons - every seemingly small tweak to a weapon or character can have many unexpected ripple effects throughout the game. This means we need to move as quickly as we can while keeping the bigger picture in mind, which results in varied but often longer timelines. OCTANE Octane is a fan-favorite that has dropped in popularity over the years. We’d love to see him reclaim a place in the hearts of our players, so we’re making changes to remind everyone why you fell in love with the adrenaline chaser in the first place! Octane’s pick rate is below average across all game modes and he sinks to near the bottom of the chart in Diamond/Masters. One of the main complaints about Octane we hear from our community is that, despite being fun for solo players, he lacks team utility. Additionally, Octane is often the character who runs ahead of the pack and looks for (and often finds) trouble; one small misstep can have dire consequences. As a result, our goals are first to increase individual survivability. Second, create more team utility allowing Octane to better help squadmates. The aim is making him a more viable pick in a variety of team comps. To help achieve these goals we’ve added some new base abilities, and new upgrades to Octane’s kit. CORE CHANGES In an effort to enable a layer of survivability we are introducing a new formulation of Stim: Stim Surge. When already Stimmed, activate Octane’s tactical a second time to enter Stim Surge, extending your Stim and granting you Fortified and a Passive Heal. Fortified: Reduced damage and no bullet slow Passive Healing: Your passive healing immediately re-engages, and continues to heal through damage UPGRADES To improve Octane’s team utility, we’re adding a branch of upgrades to boost squadmates who use your JumpPad: Squad Rush: Everyone who uses your JumpPad gains Stim on land Triple Jump: Gain a third jump from JumpPads While one branch is focused on increasing team utility, the other is centered around further improving his Stim. NEWCASTLE Newcastle was having the opposite problem of Octane: higher ranked lobbies were seeing the value in this heroic protector, but the broader community was not harnessing the value he can bring to a squad. In buffing Newcastle, our goals are to make him feel less sluggish, hoping it makes him more appealing to play to the broader community. To help achieve this goal we have incorporated the Swift Shield and Hero’s Hustle upgrades into his base kit, increasing his base movement speed and reducing movement penalties. CRYPTO Aside from potentially ALGS, Crypto has seen an extremely low pick rate across all skill bands for a long time. The biggest pain point we’ve identified is the feeling that he gets left behind by his team while performing his key function: flying his drone. Therefore, our main goal in buffing Crypto is to simply allow him to better keep up with his squadmates. As a result, we are speeding up Crypto’s interaction with his drone in a few key ways: Snappier drone launch, and quicker in/out time for drone Allowing him to pilot his drone while doing other things (i.e. zipline, opening a Mythic bin) New upgrades that keep him in the fight by allowing him to trailblaze to allies, or earn ult charge faster WEAPONS AMPS We are pleased with the design space of most of our Amps as they have been doing a great job of allowing players to adapt to situations and customize their playstyle. However, we identified that Infinite Ammo was lagging behind other amps so we wanted to give it a bit of a boost. While there are only so many ways to buff “infinite ammo” we elected to go the route of enabling compatibility with Care Package weapons (yes, that means the Kraber.) Adding Care Package weapons into the fold this way will have a much larger impact on the Amps usefulness compared to some of the other adjustments we could make. R-301 & FLATLINE Over the past few seasons, the R-301 and Flatline have taken a backseat to some of the more specialized weapons in the roster. They remain beloved classics but their power has not kept up. This has caused the R-301 and Flatline to fall behind in some of our key metrics like Encounter Win Rate. While making changes to these two staples, our goal is to close the gap in power to the rest of the roster and ensure they remain reliable classics. To achieve this we are increasing damage on both of these weapons by one. It may seem like a small change on the surface, but it will bring down their Time to Kill across multiple shield breakpoints. We’re excited to see if this reinvigorates the community’s love for the R-301 and Flatline. PROWLER At the beginning of Season 27 we equipped the Prowler with autofire burst capabilities. When we made that adjustment we also increased the delay between bursts in an effort to offset the power we thought we’d unlocked. Looking at the Prowler’s performance since, we realize we hit it a little too hard. Our goal in the followup changes to the Prowler is to bring it to a healthy balance now that the autofire burst has had time to settle into the meta. To do that, we’re reverting the burst fire delay changes we made at the beginning of Season 27. However, we still want to give the Prowler a little bit of a tune up and ensure the Selectfire Hop-Up’s Automatic Mode feels proportionately rewarding to unlock. That in mind, we’re increasing bullet damage while in full auto mode to 17 (up from 16). IN CLOSING We hope you found this helpful in further understanding the thought process behind the decisions we’re making to shift the seasonal meta of Apex Legends. For a comprehensive guide to the changes for 27.1 be sure to check the Patch Notes!
