Weekends are usually the busiest time for a new game release, and the Battlefield 6 open beta was–fortunately–no exception to that rule. Once the game switched from early access to open beta, the numbers soared and Battlefield 6 reached an impressive peak of 521,079 concurrent players (via SteamDB). A second open beta is scheduled for August 14-17, and if you’re planning to play on PS5, there’s an exclusive skin you can claim if you choose to purchase the game later this year.

To put that into perspective, Call of Duty HQ, which includes Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops 6, peaked at 67,595 players on Steam during the weekend, and Battlefield 6 surpassed the free-to-play game’s all-time peak of 491,670 concurrent players. Console numbers haven’t been revealed yet, but it’s highly likely that quite a few people grabbed a free download of the beta so that they could join in on the action.

While this is a cause for high-fives at EA, it remains to be seen just how much of the buzz from the Battlefield 6 open beta will translate into actual sales of the game. Battlefield 6 is also going up against its old rival Call of Duty this year, and Activision’s annual series is expected to be one of the best-selling games of 2025. Since the Activision-published game will also be a day-one release through Xbox Game Pass, it’ll also have a sizable advantage over Battlefield 6.

The Battlefield 6 beta has been positively received as well, with players praising the grounded approach to warfare, the various game modes on offer, and destruction physics that’ll make Bad Company 2 fans smile.

There have been some issues along the way, as naturally, cheaters have surfaced on PC and have found a way around EA’s Secure Boot technology. Enabling the anti-cheat software has also become a problem for several players.

To prep for the second open beta this weekend, you can check out our features on how to secure boot Battlefield 6 on PC, the best controller settings to use, and how AI bots work.