Battlefield 6 dev says overhauled destruction is no longer a “set piece” as pre-canned destruction eventually “becomes unspectacular”

EA and Battlefield Studios’ Battlefield 6 has some of the best destruction physics we’ve ever seen. In our hours-long preview session with the game, the newly enhanced destruction feature was core to our enjoyment with buildings crumbling under the weight of our actions as we blasted our way through walls, floors, doors and more. 

In an interview with Battlefield 6 UX director Alan Pimm, we discussed the creation of the game’s destruction systems, how it looks back on the series’ past, and how it pays close attention to the recent competitors that have vied to take Battlefield’s crown away. 

Speaking at the Battlefield 6 reveal event in London, Pimm explained that the game’s focus on destruction comes largely from the series’ past. While Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 destruction may feel quite quaint in comparison, the studio wanted to recapture the feeling of those games while taking the feature to a whole new level. 

“We looked at everything in our back catalogue and said: ‘What worked? What did players want? What were the hits?’” Pimm explained. “Battlefield 3 and 4 were our main muses. The gritty realism, the muted colours, and the destruction comes across loud and proud… but it’s not destruction for destruction’s sake. It’s not realistic that a soldier would just flatten the entire map, you know.”

Pimm explained that Battlefield 6 aims to make destruction feel more “tactical”, “usefull”, and “meaningful” than ever before. Every player has the potential to blow something up, it’s a core part of the moveset with Pimm explaining: “[If] I know there’s somebody up there, that camper that’s sniping, I’m bringing that building down.”

In the years since Battlefield 4, the series has certainly lost the crown when it comes to the King of Destruction. For now, that title likely lands with The Finals, Embark Studios’ free-to-play game show multiplayer game which itself is made by ex-Battlefield devs. In our experience, Battlefield 6 certainly does manage to rival the free-to-play game’s level decimation, albeit in a more realistic way, and it does seem that the devs have paid close attention to what others are doing. 

“Of course we look at the competition,” Pimm said. “Because that’s your ecosystem. And so we look at things that they’re doing, but we go a different way. You know, we’re not ultra-modern, we’re not flattening everything. It’s tactical destruction, it’s doing it in a Battlefield way that’s sometimes absolutely spectacular. And we love spectacular, but that’s not really its purpose, as a set piece, [as] eventually it becomes unspectacular.” 

This leads onto “levelution”, a keystone part of Battlefield’s destructive past that is no longer evident in Battlefield 6. As Pimm explained, this feature was all about the spectacle, which often led to it becoming unspectacular as time went on with some set-pieces even becoming annoying over time. 

“We love spectacular, but that’s not really its purpose, as a set piece, [as] eventually it becomes unspectacular.” 

Battlefield 6 UX Director Alan Pimm

With the newly overhauled destruction physics of the new game, almost everything is breakable in some way, but it looks (mostly) realistic and it all has purpose. There’s no cowering away from explosions: from spawn-to-spawn your bearings are changing just due to the sheer chaos found in the virtual warzone. 

Part of the reason behind this new focus is due to the abandonment of the last-gen Xbox One and PS4 consoles which constrained Battlefield Studios from being able to go above and beyond in the underwhelming Battlefield 2042. 

“Of course, it takes grunt to be able to do a lot of these things,” Pimm said. “And we always want to do more than we can, we’re always pushing the limit of whatever technology it is… it is easier that you don’t need to take in these consoles that are now quite old. Luckily, we’re in an era where you can’t buy those consoles [new] anymore. They are gone whereas when 2042 was coming out it was just on the cuff, some people weren’t able to get the next-gen console, they were in short supply.”

While the team is making use of more powerful hardware to pull off its impressive destruction, Pimm also explained that a lot of work has gone into optimisation, especially on the PC end. During our play session, we played predominantly on PS5, which was remarkably smooth, but Battlefield Studios knows the series is PC-centric, and PC players have been well catered to. 

“I think, personally, PC gamers often get the hard end of it because they’re told: ‘if it’s not running the way you want it, you just haven’t spent enough’ whereas console is kinda a fixed medium,” Pimm said. “But we’re always trying to push the envelope to that core audience both PC and console.”

Of course, not everything the team dreamt up technically could be realised here as Pimm explains they always want “more power” than can be dished out, but this is a new generation of old Battlefield, a glorious return to form, and its destruction is magnificent.