Battlefield 6 devs explain its Portal map-maker is “absolutely” essential for modern gaming as players “don’t just want a game they can complete”

After a killer reveal, everyone is looking forward to the reveal of Battlefield 6 on October 10^th. Following the underwhelming Battlefield 2042, this return to a modern military setting is coming in hot with a return-to-form classic multiplayer mode, a single-player campaign and an overhauled Battlefield Portal complete with server browser.

Speaking to UX director Alan Pimm at the Battlefield 6 reveal event in London, Pimm explained that the massive expansion of Portal—which allows players to create maps and game modes—is heavily inspired by modes like Halo’s Forge and other live-service games. Furthermore, the developer admitted that having a player-led creative mode is pretty much essential for longevity in the modern gaming climate.

“Portal was there in 2042 and, again, I’m looking at it it like ‘Okay, what can we do to make this better?’” Pimm explained. “Because it has lots of really clever tools. You can script your own AI, you can have whatever mode that you want in there. Okay, people want terrain [options]… people want to be able to pick these bits, not just pick their modes, they want to manipulate, they want to play with it.”

“They want one that they can grow, that they can evolve, or they can make their dreams come true.”

BATTLEFIELD 6 UX DIRECTOR ALAN PIMM

Battlefield Portal is essentially EA’s answer to modes like Fortnite’s UEFN mode which uses Unreal Editor to allow anyone to create experiences for the game. Instead of using Unreal Engine, Battlefield 6 uses Frostbite, but the Portal editor uses the free Godot Engine to give players even more options.

With the new version of Battlefield Portal, players are encouraged to create anything they desire, although maps will be screened by Battlefield Studios teams as they’re made public. Pimm explains that XP Farm maps are able to be created and may even go live for a short amount of time as they slip throguh the cracks, but exploits like this will likely be stamped out very quickly.

“These things [Portal creations] can be certified as, you know, modes… like a locked weapons mode. You can pick from all of these pieces, do it yourself and earn XP from it” Pimm explained. “If you want to make tiyrself an XP farm, you will be told ‘actually, you won’t get XP from this one’ and there are warnings within that editor that will tell you.”

Pimm explained that giving users the tools to make their own maps and creations, options which have famously resulted in iconic game modes like Prop Hunt, Griffball and more, is “absolutely important” for a game as big as Battlefield 6.

“People don’t just want a game that they can complete,” Pimm explained. “They want one that they can grow, that they can evolve, or they can make their dreams come true. You [as in Battlefield Studios] didn’t think about the map I really wanted. It has, you know, a monorail or whatever it is.”

Pimm explained that Battlefield 6’s use of Portal is designed to make the game stay fresh “years after you first picked up it”, injecting the game with longevity. Even if Battlefield 7 ends up releasing a few years from now, BF6’s Portal mode can still bring new life to the game and give players a product that keeps on going.

“There are different types of players,” Pimm said. “There are the players that only play an hour and then there are the players that want to play eight hours every day. Being able to give the tools for people to have a good time no matter where they are… [we want to] listen to the whole community, and make it accessible to do as much as possible.”

With traditional multiplayer, Portal and a full-fledged campaign, Battlefield 6 is certainly seeming like a complete package, and we’ve loved what we got to play. With just two months until release, EA and Battlefield Studios are certainly very proud of what they’ve got, and there’s a lot more on the way.