Battlefield 6 developer Ripple Effect hasn’t been the least bit surprised by the steady flow of leaks it has suffered throughout 2025.
Leaked gameplay footage, details, and more from EA’s ongoing closed playtest program known as Battlefield Labs have poured onto the internet throughout the last few months of development on this year’s new Battlefield game. It’s resulted in an unorthodox lead-up to what has been propped up as a particularly important entry in a long-running FPS franchise, leading to confusion from fans as they watched everything from gameplay reveals to game modes leak online.
We asked technical director Christian Buhl and senior console combat designer Matthew Nickerson about their approach to Battlefield 6 leaks during a recent interview. Buhl asserts that the Ripple Effect team “did not want leaks” but admitted the BF Studios’ desire to thrive off of player feedback led to a few necessary sacrifices.
“We had, actually, discussions, I think about a year or two ago,” Buhl explained. “I guess it was maybe about two years ago, about how much we were going to do to prevent leaks versus how much we were going to do to get the game in front of players. We made a very deliberate decision that we were going to bias very heavily towards putting things in front of players and getting their feedback, even though we knew things would leak.”
EA and the four entities that make up BF Studios — Ripple Effect, DICE, Motive Studio, and Criterion Games — knew Battlefield 6 needed to hit the ground running so as not to further stain the franchise’s already tarnished reputation. Player feedback has been an important part of the team’s foundation for years, but they weren’t naïve to the idea that a direct line of communication with fans could result in official materials making their way to the public early.
“I remember, at one point, making a big presentation that said, ‘What will leak? Everything.’ Like, we just started with that assumption that things would leak,” Buhl added. “Now, to be clear, we didn’t want things to leak. We weren’t seeking leaks, but we knew that the most important thing was to get the game in front of players, get real feedback from players, get real telemetry, real data, and that had to come at any cost, including the fact that things would leak.”
Buhl said BF Studios made it “a little bit harder for people to leak things” but kept its sights set on one goal: “Get the game in front of players even though we know it will end up leaking.” We’ll know how Battlefield 6 turned out when it launches for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S on its October 10 release date. In the meantime, be sure to check out our full interview with Buhl and Nickerson. You can also read up on a recent leak that saw a few Battlefield 6 maps show up online.
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).
