Battlefield 6 is free at same time as Modern Warfare 4 beta as EA trolls rival

EA knows what it’s doing (EA) Right ahead of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s first beta, EA has made Battlefield 6 free for the same period, as it plugs a Top Gun crossover. Last year, EA finally scored a win over Activision with Battlefield 6, which was both critically and commercially more successful than Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7, thanks to a combination of smart marketing, continued frustration with Call Of Duty as a whole, and Battlefield 6 simply being a better game. However, it didn’t take long for the honeymoon period to end, as Battlefield 6 quickly lost favour with significant portions of its player base, prompting a sizable update last month ,that added naval battles and the classic Wake Island map to try to win back favour. EA clearly still has a lot of confidence in Battlefield 6 though, since while it’s kicked off a free week-long trial to attract new players, it just so happens to coincide with the beta for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. It can often feel like publishers never bother to check the release schedules of their competitors (unless it’s GTA 6), but there’s no way this isn’t a deliberate effort by EA to undercut Activision’s plans, and keep Call of Duty on a downward trajectory. This isn’t even the first time it’s done something like this, as Battlefield 6 was made temporarily free to play shortly after the launch of Black Ops 7. Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. The free trial also arrives as EA adds a Top Gun crossover to Battlefield 6, which consists of cosmetics and character skins based on three of the characters from Top Gun: Maverick – Rooster (Miles Teller), Bob (Lewis Pullman), and Warlock (Charles Parnell) – who are all voiced by their original actors (Tom Cruise’s character of Maverick is notably absent). If you’re at all interested, the trial runs from today until next Tuesday, on August 25 across consoles and PC, and can be accessed through Battlefield Redsec, the separate free-to-play battle royale mode. It includes access to the two newest maps – Wake Island and Tsuru Reef – as well as five multiplayer modes for Battlefield 6 and the Battlefield Redsec exclusive Top Gun themed mode, Carrier Strike. The Modern Warfare 4 beta taking place this weekend is only for those who’ve already pre-ordered the game and runs from Friday, August 21 to Tuesday, August 25. While there’s nothing stopping you from double dipping and trying both games, the Call Of Duty beta isn’t free to access, at least not until the following weekend from August 28 to September 1. That second beta will also be available on Nintendo Switch 2, unlike the first one. Activision also appears desperate to encourage people into playing the Modern Warfare 4 beta, since it’s stacked with a lot of multiplayer modes and, for the first time ever, includes a mission from the single-player campaign. Modern Warfare 4 is facing a lot of pressure to make up for Black Ops 7’s failings, but things aren’t rosy for Battlefield 6 either. Despite EA acknowledging that Battlefield 6 met ‘all milestones for a high quality launch,’ employees across all four of the game’s development studios were laid off, while CEO Andrew Wilson received a very sizable bonus. There’s also the matter of EA’s recent acquisition by a group of private investors, which includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and has saddled the company with $20 bill of debt – that it intends to recoup with ‘organisational efficiencies.’ This can only mean even more layoffs and is expected to see EA further prioritise its most financially lucrative games, such as Battlefield 6 and the upcoming EA Sports FC 27. Modern Warfare 4 is arriving too early to meaningfully address Black Ops 7’s faults (Activision) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: Star Wars: Galactic Racer preview and interview – the next best thing to F-Zero Arrow MORE: Disastrous Star Citizen stream is the cringiest thing you’ll see today Arrow MORE: Four days off to play GTA 6 used to convince US army soldiers to re-enlist GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.