The open beta for Battlefield 6 has become the most popular game in the series on Steam

Image credit: EA

The Battlefield 6 Open Beta has emerged as the most played title of the series on Steam, achieving a milestone with 521,079 players simultaneously online during its first weekend.

Commencing on August 9 and running through August 10, this Open Beta provided early access for players ahead of its official release set for October 10, 2025.

On its launch day, Battlefield 6 surpassed the previously high mark by registering a peak of 521,079 concurrent players, ranking it 18th among Steam's all-time peak games, surpassing the numbers of Call of Duty.

Mike Ybarra, former Blizzard Entertainment president, shared his thoughts in an X post on August 8, suggesting this year’s Battlefield is set to outperform Call of Duty, describing the latter as disorganized in subsequent replies. "The benefit here is that CoD won’t be complacent anymore, leading to better FPS games for everyone," he remarked.

This event has also seen EA break new ground, boasting the highest concurrent player numbers for any Battlefield game on Steam so far, outstripping Battlefield 2042's record by nearly fourfold.

Historically, between 2011 and 2020, EA limited its game releases on Steam, including the Battlefield franchise, preferring their EA App, previously known as Origin.

By 2020, EA began gradually bringing its titles back to Steam, including the Battlefield series. This period of absence means that while Battlefield 2042 from 2021 and the recent Battlefield 6 Open Beta's concurrent numbers are comparable, this doesn't apply to entries during the time of their Steam exclusion, such as Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 5.

In an X post on August 9, EA declared, "This is Battlefield's largest Open Beta to date," as the open beta player count exceeded 400,000. They noted looming peak periods and alerted users about potential queues and the complexities associated with game entry times. EA thanked players, expressing appreciation for their enthusiasm for the Battlefield 6 Open Beta.