With the Battlefield 6 open beta now in the rearview mirror, players are feeling a bit of a void. It’s telling that many are returning to Battlefield 2042—a title that was previously given the cold shoulder—just to scratch that lingering itch. It really puts into perspective just how much anticipation is building up for Battlefield 6.

On the 19th, Battlefield 2042 hit a daily peak of 22,408 concurrent players on Steam. That’s the highest figure we’ve seen all year. Before the Battlefield 6 open beta kicked off, the game was typically hovering around a daily peak of 6,000 to 8,000 concurrent players.

Why flock to 2042 instead of the likes of Battlefield 5 or Battlefield 1? While there are various reasons, it seems the recent string of patches has finally convinced players that it’s actually 'worth playing' these days. Notably, as the Battlefield 6 beta wrapped up on the 18th, the 9.2 update dropped, bringing back the fan-favourite 'Iwo Jima' map, along with two new weapons, two fighter jets, a free battle pass, and a new Portal-themed event.

The game’s reputation may have hit rock bottom at launch, but since so many people already had it in their libraries, the barrier to return is low. With the system feeling modern and positive word-of-mouth regarding recent improvements spreading, it seems many have decided to make do with this while waiting for the roughly 50 days left until the Battlefield 6 release. The incentive of earning exclusive Battlefield 6 rewards by completing the free battle pass tasks hasn't hurt, either. It’s even climbed to around 70th place on the Steam top-sellers list, proving that even a few new buyers are testing the waters.

Battlefield 6 wrapped up its open beta test last weekend. It was an absolute phenomenon, drawing 520,000 concurrent players during the first weekend and 400,000 in the second. With its official launch slated for October 10th, the game currently sits at number 2 on the Steam top-selling games chart as of the 19th. The full version is expected to feature large-scale battlefields and a wealth of content that remained under wraps during the beta.