Battlefield 6 Devs Respond to REDSEC Review-Bombing: ‘This Is Just the Beginning of the Experience’

The Battlefield Studios team says REDSEC has plenty of time to regain lost ground with fans after the free-to-play offshoot was hit with a review-bombing campaign by Battlefield 6 players at launch.

IGN spoke with design director Justin Wiebe and creative director Thomas Andersson earlier this week to learn more about REDSEC, how it got started, and what its future holds. We also asked about the team’s response to the initiative that sought to bring down its user review score on storefronts like Steam.

Even as online fan feedback bounces between endless praise and targeted negativity, Wiebe says BF Studios is “extremely passionate and proud” of what it has done so far and is only looking forward to the future. The main thing fans should note, though, is the developers are “always listening.”

“I mean, as soon as the game launched, we had people kind of looking at all forms of player communication, and taking notes and saying, ‘OK, well, we had planned to do this in live service, but we’re hearing that this is a problem for the community,’” he explained. “If it’s a problem for the community, then let’s talk about it. Let’s see how we can prioritize that.”

Wiebe adds that BF Studios has engaged in “mad note-taking” in the wake of REDSEC’s launch as it pivots to prioritize fixes for problems that can be quickly patched. One example he calls attention to involves challenges and challenge requirements in Battlefield 6, with many of the more problematic issues in this area already addressed in an update last week.

“For me, I always say, live service, you have a big clock,” he explains, “and every time there’s a player issue, you start the clock and you measure and value your time to the player, so that you can make sure that the player and the community knows that we’re listening, and we’re going to be able to do what we can to react.

“But we’re also weighing that against our future ambitions of all the different content and experiences we want to create from live services, because this is just the beginning of the experience, and we want to make sure that we’re addressing player feedback, and we’re also adding new and exciting experiences for players to play.”

REDSEC will continue to coexist alongside Battlefield 6, meaning players can expect seasonal updates to introduce new content to both experiences. The REDSEC Season 1 roadmap has already provided a taste of what’s to come, teasing a new vehicle-based Gauntlet mission called Rodeo for November 18 and an Ice Lock Gauntlet limited-time event for December 9.

We asked if seasonal updates could impact REDSEC’s map, Fort Lyndon, as Battlefield 6, battle royale, Gauntlet, and Portal updates roll out. BF Studios isn’t ready to talk map updates just yet, but when changes like that eventually arrive, don’t expect the developers to deliver surface-level changes.

“For me, when we do map updates, if we’re going to spend a bunch of time working on the map, I want to make sure that it’s additive to the player experience,” Wiebe said. “That it’s not just a quick cosmetic hit, right? That there’s new fun things to explore there. It adds to gameplay in new and meaningful ways. I think, for me, that’s the important component moving forward.”

He adds that Gauntlet, the new game mode the Battlefield 6 community has welcomed with open arms, will continue to be a “tool in our toolbelt” when it comes to thematic seasonal content, calling the mode “the perfect, ultimate live-service game mode.”

“It’s not always looking at, ‘What do we do with the battle royale or Fort Lyndon map?’ but also, ‘How do we leverage Gauntlet and utilize it in fresh and unique ways to also hit some of those live service, thematic beats?’” Wiebe said.

Battlefield 6 and REDSEC launched into Season 1 October 28. The three-part introductory season will introduce new modes, maps, and weapons throughout its run.

While BF Studios does its best to retake lost ground, you can check out our 7/10 REDSEC review and our 8/10 multiplayer review. You can also read up on the most recent Battlefield 6 update, which brought bug fixes and aiming tweaks to players yesterday.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).