Battlefield 6 free trial starts next week as players lose interest in BF6

The free trial begins just a week after EA laid off developers

Battlefield 6 will be free to play for a limited time next week. Starting March 17 and running through March 24, players can check out a sample of what Battlefield 6 has to offer after downloading and playing Battlefield RedSec, a free-to-play battle royale mode, during the trial period.

The free trial will include three different playlists with a variety of modes to check out. The Nightfall playlist features classic modes, like Team Deathmatch, played out in the dark, necessitating night vision goggles. All-Out Warfare includes some of Battlefield 6's traditional objective-based modes, while Casual Breakthrough is geared toward newer players and features matches with a large number of bots as teammates and enemies.

This free period comes at a turbulent time for Battlefield 6 and its developers. As reported by IGN, EA laid off an unknown number of staff at Criterion, Dice, Ripple Effect, and Motive Studios earlier this week, which are collectively under the Battlefield Studios developer label. "We’ve made select changes within our Battlefield organization to better align our teams around what matters most to our community," EA said in a statement. Those layoffs came despite how well Battlefield 6 has performed — it sold more than 7 million copies within three days of launch and ended up as the best-selling game of 2025, besting the latest Call of Duty, Black Ops 7.

Player interest has waned in recent months, however. Judging by SteamDB charts, the only publicly available player count data we can look at, only a fraction of people are still booting up Battlefield 6 five months after launch when it peaked at nearly 750,000 concurrent Steam players.

Recent reviews haven't been too high on it either, with Battlefield 6 sitting with a "mixed" player rating on Steam. "Really want to leave a positive review, I will still play it but really wish the team would focus on creating maps and permanent content rather then limited time crap that does not have a long lasting impact on the game or mechanics," one recent review states. Players have taken issue with the game's battle pass and what people suspect are AI-generated cosmetics.

If you want to dive in and test the Battlefield 6 waters yourself, you can do so starting Tuesday, March 17, at 11 a.m. EDT, according to a countdown clock on Activision's website. Here are the full details on the available modes:

Nightfall

• Features Team Deathmatch, Squad Deathmatch, and Domination. In this specific playlist, the lights are out and the hunt is on, requiring squads to use Night Vision Goggles or attachments to see into - or light up - the dark.
• Features the new Hagental Base map

All-Out Warfare

• Includes fan-favorite mode Conquest, the intense frontline battle of Breakthrough, and a mode introduced at Battlefield 6’s global launch: Escalation, a battle that escalates over time with redefined map boundaries and additional vehicles.
• This playlist features four maps: two from Season 2 - Contaminated and Hagental Base, to be released in the Nightfall update - as well as Eastwood from Season 1 and Mirak Valley from the game’s day one rotation

Casual Breakthrough

• A more relaxed way to jump into Battlefield 6 while still earning progression and completing challenges, perfect for new players or those looking for a less intense experience compared to a full PvP playlist.
• Smaller player teams: 16 real players (8 per team) with 32 bot teammates/enemies (16 per team)
• Features three maps: Hagental Base, Contaminated, and Eastwood