Shorter Conquest matches might not be the move.
Battlefield 6 has only been out in the wild for a week, but developer Battlefield Studios is already starting to make tweaks to its gameplay. Some of these changes have been celebrated, like a hotfix for bullet hit registration problems players were facing at launch.
Some of them are a little more controversial, however. This week, the developer announced that it would be reducing the number of starting tickets across all Conquest matches to speed up the pace of gameplay. However, the move has raised player ire, as it has led to shorter Conquest matches overall.
Battlefield 6 reduces Conquest tickets, players take issue with the change
It’s safe to say that Battlefield 6 has had an easier launch week than its predecessor, Battlefield 2042. The game’s bugs are more amusing than they are gamebreaking, and the many modes and weapons available have kept players busy.
Despite that, developer Battlefield Studios might have inadvertently kicked off a small kerfuffle with its players, thanks to a new change to the Conquest game mode. Conquest is a fan-favourite mode for this franchise, giving two teams a fixed number of reinforcement tickets and objectives to capture. The first team to run out of tickets loses.
Battlefield 6 already launched with a change to this mode, however, adding a timer to Conquest so matches don’t run too long. When the timer runs out, the team with the highest number of remaining tickets automatically wins.
The developer states that “many rounds were hitting the time limit instead of ending when one team ran out of tickets.” Thus, it is reducing the number of tickets available in all Conquest maps as such:
- Siege of Cairo from 1000 to 900
- Empire State from 1000 to 900
- Iberian Offensive from 1000 to 900
- Liberation Peak From 1000 to 800
- Manhattan Bridge From 1000 to 800
- Operation Firestorm From 1000 to 700
- New Sobek City from 1000 to 900
- Mirak Valley from 1000 to 700
Players have not reacted kindly to the change, however. Replies to the developer’s Twitter/X post point out that “Battlefield 3 & 4 had plenty of conquest games that lasted 40+ minutes,” while others affirm that long matches aren’t a problem. User Reece asks “Why have a time limit? What’s wrong with longer games? I swear back in the day a conquest game used to run for 30-40 minutes.”
User Klobrille also raises a sentiment which many players share regarding Conquest’s time limit, in that it seems to be an unnecessary addition altogether. “Just delete or extend the time limit. What exactly are we doing here? People want long, epic matches when playing Conquest.” Content creator Westie agrees, saying “Matches now don't last long enough. Maybe just remove the time limits and let some games be longer and others shorter?”
On the Battlefield subreddit, players are a tad more heated regarding the change. The front page is flooded with posts entitled “DO NOT CHANGE THE NUMBER OF TICKETS” and “Revert Conquest Ticket amounts back to 1000!”
It looks like Battlefield Studios is intent on keeping Conquest matches from overstaying their welcome, while players worry that shortening these matches might cause them to lose their tense and chaotic appeal. Most players seem to agree that any fixes for Conquest's length and pace should begin with its time limit, rather than the number of player tickets.
Battlefield Studios has not reverted the change yet.
