EA’s latest venture into the battle royale genre, Battlefield REDSEC, has landed with a thud, garnering ‘Mostly Negative’ reviews on Steam. Players of the core Battlefield 6 game are openly expressing their dissatisfaction.
Just a day after its free launch on PC and consoles, the standalone Battlefield REDSEC experience is facing a barrage of criticism. On Steam, a mere 35% of user reviews were positive, and even including all languages, this number only barely nudged to 39%. This low reception earned the game a prominent ‘Mostly Negative’ warning label on the platform.
[Video: Battlefield REDSEC Official Gameplay Launch Trailer]
This surge of negative feedback for Battlefield’s new battle royale aligns with ongoing player frustration regarding the main Battlefield 6 game. Dissatisfaction with the core premium experience intensified with yesterday’s Season 1 launch, and now, that criticism is clearly extending to REDSEC.
While Battlefield 6 and REDSEC are distinct multiplayer titles, they share a system of challenges, cosmetics, and battle pass rewards. This interconnectedness has become a sticking point, as many Battlefield 6 players are annoyed by weekly challenges that force them into the battle royale mode to progress.
One frustrated Steam reviewer for Battlefield REDSEC remarked, ‘I wouldn’t hate it so much if I wasn’t forced to play it for challenges in the main game. But I am. So I do.’
They added, clearly stating, ‘This is not why I bought Battlefield 6.’
Another negative review highlighted the issue further: ‘Oh, but you just can reroll the challenges! Yeah, and 3 of them are still for the BR because they are pushing it hard on people that would not touch it even once…’
Other PC players concur that it’s unfair to tie significant Battlefield 6 battle pass XP to an entirely separate game. However, this cross-game frustration isn’t the only factor driving down REDSEC’s Steam scores. Some core game players are also using the review platform to express their disappointment with the multiplayer map sizes in Battlefield 6.
[Image Gallery: Battlefield REDSEC Launch Screenshots]
Calls for larger multiplayer maps in Battlefield 6 have persisted since the August beta tests, and the October 10 launch only intensified these demands, as the initial maps didn’t meet community expectations. Interestingly, some negative Steam reviews for REDSEC actually commend its exclusive battle royale map, Fort Lyndon, which leads to a central question: why does the free-to-play spin-off offer the expansive maps that paying players desire for the main game?
One REDSEC review lamented, ‘Oh wow, a nice big map with lots of Points of Interest and flanks. If only we could get something like this for the main game.’
Another Steam user noted, ‘It’s trying to be too much all at once. The map in this Battle Royale is so good it’s criminal that it’s not being used for Conquest right now.’
While Battlefield 6 players are certainly influencing REDSEC’s Steam rating, the new standalone game is also receiving genuine feedback. Many positive comments praise Battlefield Studios for successfully integrating classic Battlefield elements with popular battle royale mechanics, reminiscent of titles like Call of Duty: Warzone. The launch also saw a significant surge in activity, with over half a million Battlefield 6 players hitting a 24-hour peak yesterday, according to Steamdb.
[Video: Battlefield 6 REDSEC Battle Royale Gameplay]
REDSEC, which encompasses Gauntlet and Portals modes in addition to its battle royale mode, is getting love in the Battlefield community, but there is still a general feeling that the experience is incomplete. Specifically, it’s the lack of a solo queue option and battle royale fatigue that many are calling out – both in negative and positive reviews.
One negative review questioned, ‘No solo Mode… When will they learn the overwhelming majority of players play solo? It doesn’t feel good to play with randoms against premade coordinated squads.’
Conversely, a positive review acknowledged the update’s merits, saying, ‘Fun update, the battle pass is not half bad. Only problem with me is not having a solo battle royal mode.’
With REDSEC only 24 hours post-launch, its future is still unfolding. Both REDSEC and Battlefield 6 will continue to receive shared seasonal updates. Season 1, which debuted yesterday, brought the new Blackwell Fields map to multiplayer, with additional maps and weapons expected in November and December.
[Video: Battlefield 6 Official Season 1 Gameplay Trailer]
Historically, EA has responded to player feedback. Recent updates, for instance, introduced fixes for a contentious green character skin and rectified distracting lighting issues present since launch. Amusingly, some players have even found enjoyment in simply using the Engineer’s repair tool to draw on in-game walls.