Bad news for everyone who was looking forward to squad formations in Battlefield 6: EA is cutting Platoons and the vehicle B-81 Cavalry for this year. Both features were originally scheduled to go live with Season 5 Phase 3 on December 8, 2026. That will no longer happen.
The Battlefield Comms team announced the delay in a status update on X on November 5. The explanation was brief: “We have determined that the B-81 Cavalry and our Platoons feature are not ready for deployment as they do not meet our internal quality standards.” In German: From the developers' perspective, the features are not ready for release because they do not meet internal quality standards. EA will only provide details on the revised roadmap for 2027 “after the holidays.”
What are Platoons in Battlefield 6?
Platoons are the community feature from the April 2026 roadmap. Players were supposed to be able to form groups with up to 100 members. Plans included easy partying, Platoon tags, adjustable join rules with leadership tools, and XP bonuses for playing together. The concept is not new: Platoons first appeared in Battlefield 3. Especially for regular groups, clans, and Discord communities, this would have been a convenience improvement in Battlefield 6 – that's our assessment.
Fans are understandably disappointed. The feature was one of the most frequently requested additions, and the delay hits the community in the middle of a season where Platoons were still officially planned.
Why is this retraction so significant?
The timing is the real problem. Just on October 21, EA confirmed the December schedule, including Platoons, in the Community Update More to Season 5. Two weeks later, everything is different. EA has since added a note above the article stating that it was published before the announcement of the delay. Such short-notice reversals erode trust, even if the decision to hold back an unfinished feature is fundamentally more sensible than releasing it with bugs. We see it this way: honesty is good, but roadmaps that only last a few weeks quickly appear to players as empty promises. The crucial factor will be whether the 2027 roadmap proves to be more binding.
It also remains unclear whether the Server Browser, also announced for December 8, is affected. EA only mentions Platoons and the B-81 Cavalry in the announcement. There is no statement regarding the Server Browser, so you should not assume anything here as confirmed. Whether Season 5 Phase 3 will start as planned on December 8 is also not officially confirmed.
What's next for Battlefield 6?
The winter won't be entirely without content. Season 5 Phase 2 starts on November 10 with the new map European Casino, a close-quarters location, and the Casino Heist event and multiplayer leaderboards will also begin then. EA described details in the Community Update about the Casino. If you're looking for new content until then, our Map Guide for Vegas Strip and Area 51 offers tips for the current maps. Everything else about the game can be found on the official Battlefield 6 page.
Source: EA (Community Update More to Season 5), Kotaku, Battlefield Comms on X
Would you have preferred to get Platoons on time with flaws, or would you rather wait until 2027 for a polished feature?
Comments (0)
No comments yet — be the first to share your take.