It took less than one week for Battlefield 6 players to start making Portal lobbies for XP farming – and some believe EA has already caught on.
Fans were quick to call out the progression system in last week’s new FPS entry as a bit of a slog. Although most are walking away from each multiplayer match happy with the package Battlefield Studios has crafted, even some of the most enthusiastic fans believe leveling up takes too long, with an unrewarding weapon unlock system and arduous challenges dampening the experience even further.
The general unlock process in Battlefield 6 is too slow.
I understand wanting to make it challenging for players to get the best stuff, but I’m dreading how long it’s going to take to bring just a few guns up to a decent level for attachments etc, and I’m an engaged player.…
— Westie (@MrProWestie) October 13, 2025
“Do they really think players have that much time and energy to grind endlessly just to get the rewards we’re supposed to earn naturally?” one player asked in a Reddit post. “It’s exhausting.”
Just days removed from launch, plenty of players already feel the grind is too much to put up with – especially for casual fans – but that’s where Portal comes in. The do-it-yourself mode, which was first introduced in 2021’s Battlefield 2042, allows players to create nearly any match or mode they can dream of. The right build can even allow Portal users to earn experience as if they are playing a standard multiplayer match, so, naturally, it took just days for XP farm servers to crop up.
Content creators like Arekkz Gaming, TheCadWoman, and WhosImmortal, who are just a few of the many spreading the word, recommend specific Portal lobbies to level up fast. Most relevant lobbies are populated with bots but stick close enough to standard Battlefield 6 modes so as not to alter the rate of gained XP. Players are often then instructed to use double XP tokens (if they have any) and kill AI/bot enemies near objectives to efficiently farm XP.
A desire to boost through demanding progression systems has existed long before Battlefield 6, so XP farm servers in Portal were quickly populated full of impatient fans. Some suspect that EA, though, is just as quick.
As more XP farm lobbies fill the Portal community browser, players are finding themselves met with a “Global Game Quota Exceeded” message with little explanation. It’s led fans to believe EA and BF Studios have begun cracking down on suspicious lobbies in order to keep boosters from exploiting Battlefield 6 and its Portal toolkit.
The error is certainly keeping some XP farmers from continuing to reap the rewards they desire, but it’s unclear if these messages are the result of direct action to pour cold water on farming. Portal players have reported receiving the message regardless of their lobby hosting intentions. Some haven’t even been able to start hosting servers at all, suggesting Battlefield 6 Portal servers may simply be struggling in the wake of massive player numbers from last week’s launch. There’s also been no word from EA or BF Studios regarding any moves to stamp out XP farming.
It’s unclear why exactly the Global Game Quote Exceeded message is popping up around the user-generated community tab, but that doesn’t mean the popularity of XP farming isn’t playing a role. The widespread criticism of Battlefield 6’s progression system has led to an overflow of servers for players looking to unlock content as quickly as possible. Some dedicated Portal creators suspect this large number of individual lobbies isn’t exactly helping unclog the Battlefield 6 online experience.
Battlefield 6 launched October 10 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, then promptly rocketed its way to become the most successful Steam launch for the long-running EA franchise ever, reaching a peak of more than 740,000 concurrent users.
While we wait to see how EA and BF Studios might address XP farming and progression in Battlefield 6, be sure to check out how some Portal players used their power to recreate Call of Duty’s Shipment. You can also read about how Support players are struggling to keep their teammates happy.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
