Battlefield 6 sparks war of ‘Zoomers’ vs. ‘Battledads’ for movement – but developers are looking somewhere in between

Battlefield 6 The movement is a priority for EA, Battlefield Studios, and players, as the community’s latest debate has formed around the theme of “zoomers” versus “batteldads.”

Few gaming communities take movement mechanics as seriously as fans of first-person shooters. As players new and old now jump into what has become one of the most popular Battlefield games of all time, everyone is talking about what type of player Battlefield 6 should be aimed at.

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While FPS games like Call of Duty have improved upon motion shooting mechanics with things like jet packs, wall running, and, more recently, Omnimovement, gamers have long viewed Battlefield as the yin to that yang, offering a more methodical approach to the tactical military shooter subgenre. So when Battlefield 6’s August beta revealed mechanics more focused on moving shooter territory than the series had ever seen before, longtime fans — often unaffectionately referred to as “batteldads” — were quick to demand changes.

EA and BF Studios agreed, announcing that Battlefield 6’s movement had been changed to “create a more balanced and traditional Battlefield experience” later that same month. Changes included reduced horizontal speed and a jumping momentum that many had used to dance around others. Shooting while jumping or sliding has also been nerfed, causing a stir among new fans – often called zoomers – who typically favored motion shooters, such as Call of Duty. You can probably see where this is going.

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“Another AAA studio destroying motion to cater to people who play games an hour a week and will never encounter people using motion technology anyway,” content creator and user of X/Twitter. @Reave said at the time.

“Oh, go fly a kite, bro,” content creator and X user @TeioStreams replied. “If you want movement in your shooter, go play COD. Battlefield is a different kind of game.”

That’s where the finish line is for fans today, months later. Launch has come and gone, and while many of those same Battledads and others feel the movement is perfect, those on the zoom side are calling for Battlefield 6’s movement nerfs to be undone.

As PC Gamer points out, EA and BF Studios fall somewhere in between.

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Florian Le Bihan, lead game designer at DICE, remains active on social media as players consider the best path for Battlefield 6. His recent comments may disappoint players on both sides, as he tease smaller adjustments without affecting the base’s movement speed.

“We won’t be rolling back the Open Beta movement, but we’re working on some slight tweaks that will help with some parts that seem a little clunky.” Bihan said when asked for a proper throwback to the Battlefield 6 move from the August public release earlier this week. “We will share more as soon as possible!” »

The zoomer crowd is on the edge of their seats, waiting to see how close they can get to a return to the fast-paced Battlefield 6 movement they enjoyed. Battledads aren’t as enthusiastic, with some sharing fears of “overcorrection.”

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“My main concern is that they will over-adjust again, just like what happened with (Battlefield 2042),” a popular article on Reddit said. “They went from massive cards that seemed too open to small or medium sized cards. It was a total overcorrection. Don’t repeat the same mistake with the DICE move.”

We’ll have to wait to see the extent of the movement changes to come, but with a week to go before launch, one thing is certain: the Battlefield 6 team is moving quickly. New fixes for community requests and issues have been released almost daily, with recent examples including reducing the size of Conquest tickets (which was I quickly returned following the outcry from fans) and a fix for recording uneven hits. Upcoming updates promise changes Battlefield 6’s annoying lighting systemas well as a crackdown on XP farms.

Battlefield 6 launches on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S on October 10 and 10 sold 7 million copies in its first three days. For more on Battlefield 6, check out IGN’s Battlefield 6 guide for a full list and video of all campaign collectible locations, tips for gaining an advantage in multiplayer, and more.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer at IGN. He is best known for his work on sites like The Pitch, The Escapist and OnlySP. Be sure to follow him on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).