EA has walked back on an update that was seemingly pushed to Battlefield 6 by mistake, which changed the way that XP tokens worked to a more consumer-friendly method. The update would have made double XP tokens count down based on in-game time rather than real time, a feature long requested by the community.
How the XP Booster System Currently Works
Normally in Battlefield 6 and other online shooter games like Call of Duty, double XP tokens count down in real-time from when they are activated. This means players lose double XP time while waiting in lobbies for matches to start. The recent update appeared to change this to how double XP tokens used to work in Battlefield 4, with the timer only counting down when actually spawned into a match.
When booting up Battlefield 6, some players were served with the following message: “To improve how useful XP boosts are to you, XP boosters will now count down based on in-game time instead of real time. We will track what percentage of the length of the match you have an XP Booster active, then multiply the final Match Bonus XP by the appropriate percentage for each.” The splash screen also stated that the Boosters menu was moving to the lobby screen for easier access.
EA Clarifies the Update Was Unintentional
However, EA has since clarified that this change is not true, and that the update message was pushed unintentionally. Writing on the Battlefield 6 subreddit, global community manager T0TALfps said: “That message was sent unintentionally and has since been removed from players’ inboxes. At this time, XP Boosters all continue to work as they have done within Battlefield 6, and there are no changes to announce.”
Despite the walk back, T0TALfps did provide a glimmer of hope that the system could change in the future. “We know many of you have been asking for XP Boosters to count down based on in-game match time, and we’ve continued to pass that feedback along to the team. While we don’t have any updates to share right now, we’ll be sure to let you know if that changes,” they wrote.
Community Outrage Over EA's Decision
The Battlefield community is outraged that EA has not committed to the change, despite claiming the message was sent in error. One Reddit user commented: “It's such an obvious PR win to just commit to this, even if it was a mistake. Gain a bit of goodwill with your customers. But it's EA so it's just another 'because f**k you that's why' decision by them.”
A second gamer wrote: “They made this consumer unfriendly mistake three times and they just need to f*****g change it to counting down only in-game.” Meanwhile, a third said: “How can they unintentionally send this message?! It’s not like one employee went rogue and deduced 'F**k it, XP Booster changes coming!'”
The incident highlights ongoing tensions between EA and the Battlefield community, with many players feeling that consumer-friendly changes are being ignored.
