Battlefield 6 Open Beta: The Shotgun Problem

The Shotgun Meta in Battlefield 6’s Open Beta

If there’s one topic that lit up Reddit, Discord, and Twitch chat during Weekend 2, it was shotguns. With Rush and close-quarters layouts taking center stage, many players felt like every corridor was a shotgun killbox. Here’s what the community is saying — and what DICE may need to address before launch.

🔫 Why Shotguns Took Over

• Tight maps + Rush (12v12): Empire State and the Weekend 2 version of Rush funnel players into narrow lanes, creating ideal conditions for one-shot weapons.
• Open weapon selection: Unlike past entries where Rush sometimes had restrictions, Battlefield 6’s open sandbox lets players bring the most efficient tools — and in CQC, that’s buckshot.
• TTK + Destruction combo: With the beta’s faster TTK and destructible cover, defenders and attackers alike often defaulted to shotguns to guarantee trades in chaotic pushes.

📣 Community Feedback

• Frustration: Many long-time fans called it “unplayable” or “not Battlefield” when every choke point boiled down to shotgun duels.
• Mixed fun factor: Some loved the chaos, noting it felt like Bad Company 2 again, but most argued the scale was wrong — “a shotgun party without room to breathe.”
• Balance debates: Posts called for tweaks such as pellet spread normalization, reduced OHK range, or mode-specific weapon limitations.

🛠️ What DICE Could Do

Potential adjustments being floated in the community:

• Map + mode scale: Increase Rush player counts from 12v12 → 16v16 and widen objectives.
• Weapon tuning: Reduce max one-shot range; add clearer spread/recoil penalties.
• Loadout restrictions: Limit shotgun availability in certain playlists, similar to how vehicles are capped.
• Spawn logic: Rework attacker/defender spawn distances to reduce constant CQC spam.

✅ Why It Matters

Battlefield’s identity has always been a balance of sandbox freedom and strategic scale. When one weapon class dominates entire weekends, it threatens that balance. The beta is doing its job: exposing friction before release. But DICE needs to show they’re listening.

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📊 TL;DR

• Shotguns dominated Weekend 2 thanks to Rush, Empire State’s tight lanes, and open loadouts.
• Community sentiment: fun in bursts, frustrating long-term; many feel it undermines Battlefield’s strategic scale.
• Possible fixes: widen maps, tweak OHK range, restrict shotguns in certain playlists, or rebalance spawn flow.
• Takeaway: If unchecked, shotguns could define the early meta — and not in a good way.

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What’s Next?

The final beta weekend and pre-launch patch notes will reveal whether DICE responds quickly. Players want to know: will shotguns stay king, or get tuned into balance before release?