Battlefield 6 brings back the fan-favorite Battlefield 3 map Operation Firestorm, but the process of remastering and updating the map–and remastering maps in general–wasn’t simple, Battlefield Studios says.
In an interview with PCGamesN, design director Shashank Uchil said, “You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is,” and not necessarily for the reason you may expect.
Uchil said one part of what makes remaster maps challenging is the expectations players have. Battlefield 3 was released 14 years ago in 2011, and people may be remembering that version and feeling a certain fondness and nostalgia for it.
“People know the map and people have certain expectations. But also there’s rose-tinted glasses, like, ‘This is how it used to be,'” he said.
Battlefield 6 has a different destruction system than Battlefield 3 did and different weapons, and these elements made remastering Operation Firestorm “much more complicated than people think.”
Producer Jeremy Chubb, meanwhile, said remastering maps forces the developer to be wary of a “fine line.”
“Because people have really particular views about what that map was. They want that experience realized. But I think that we would disappoint people little if we weren’t able to evolve it and embrace the new ideas and features that we have in this game,” Chubb said.
Battlefield 6 will have nine multiplayer maps at launch, including Operation Firestorm. A datamining effort discovered that there could be at least three more remaster maps coming, including Propaganda (Battlefield 4), Talah Market (Battlefield 3), and Downtown (Battlefield Hardline), but this is not confirmed as of yet. EA has said it will add more maps to Battlefield 6 after launch as part of the game’s ongoing seasonal DLC model.
Battlefield 6 launches on October 10 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. A battle royale mode is also in the works.