Battlefield 6 devs suffer huge layoffs despite releasing the best-selling game of 2025 as player counts continue to fall

Battlefield 5 soldier standing in front of explosion

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March 9 2026

EA’s Battlefield Studios collection of development studios have all suffered layoffs following the continued loss in player numbers for Battlefield 6. Despite launching as the best-selling Battlefield in series history and becoming the best-selling game of 2025 in the United States, EA has laid off workers across DICE, Criterion, Ripple Effect, and Motive.

Reported by IGN, EA has dubbed the layoffs as part of a “realignment” for Battlefield Studios as post-launch development continues on the game. While all four studios will remain operational with continued support for Battlefield 6, every studio working on the game has been hit.

While BF6 launched to extraordinary player numbers on launch, recent PC numbers have shown a severe decline in retention as numerous key problems have yet to be addressed. Players have asked for larger-scale maps for the game, but developers have responded that there are resource issues preventing them from releasing huge maps right now.

While Battlefield 6 Season 2 was a shot of hope for Battlefield Studios to rekindle some of the game’s lost player base, the game has failed to claw back its players. The new season’s release did see a moderate increase in console player counts, but with more than half of the game’s initial sales on PC, the game’s success does rely on bringing those players back.

Additionally, the game’s costly free-to-play battle royale mode, RedSec, has been a huge loss for the game. Alongside launching to a mostly negative reception, the battle royale spin-off is a largely unpopular part of the game, and has taken away resources from the main release.

The move to lay off workers across Battlefield Studios also comes as EA is preparing to be acquired by a large investment group. The controversial acquisition, which involves a number of Saudi groups, has led many to worry about the future of the gaming giant and its slew of IP including Battlefield, The Sims, and more.

As for the future of Battlefield 6, continued updates are still in development despite the reduction in head count. The ongoing Season 2 roadmap will see its next map drop on March 17 with an additional update featuring a limited-time mode dropping on April 14. At the time of writing, Season 3’s release date has not been announced.

About The Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with over a decade in the field. Starting with beloved Xbox website ICXM/XboxMAD, Lewis became the Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser before becoming the Editor in Chief of StealthOptional and Gfinityesports. Lewis later jumped to By Gamers For Gamers where he jumped to become EIC of VideoGamer and the host of the New VideoGamer Podcast prior to the website’s acquisition.

Over the years, Lewis has also seen long-form investigative pieces published in outlets such as Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, Retro Gamer, Nintendo Life, and EDGE. Now, as the Editor in Chief of FRVR Blog, Lewis strives to bring the same level of quality journalism with interview-led content to the site in both written and audio form with the FRVR Podcast.

With a First Degree BA Hons in Games Journalism and Public Relations, Lewis has been a stable part of the British games press for over a decade, and has frequently displayed his love of Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other games pretty much everywhere he’s worked. And FRVR is no different.

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