BF6 Season 5 Discord Q&A lands at 2am AEST — Gauntlet removal still the hot topic
The dev team takes questions live tomorrow night (AU time) as backlash over Gauntlet's removal and a rumoured XP cap overshadows praise for the new Area 51 map.
What happened
The Battlefield team has reminded players that the Season 5 Discord Live Q&A kicks off tomorrow — but for Clutch Club members, "tomorrow" actually lands in the middle of the night. The session is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTC, which converts to 2:00am Wednesday 21/10 in Brisbane (AEST), 3:00am Sydney/Melbourne (AEDT), 2:30am Adelaide (ACDT) and midnight in Perth (AWST). The development team will spend an hour answering questions live on Discord, with the ask-a-question channel opening roughly 30 minutes earlier (around 1:30am AEST). With more than a hundred questions answered over the last two Q&As on Discord, the team is back to take on topics about Season 5, Battlefield 6 and REDSEC.
What changed
The Q&A follows hot on the heels of Season 5: Siege of Vegas, which went live on 13 October as update 2.1.1.0. The update launches Season 5: Siege of Vegas, introducing the Vegas Strip and Area 51 maps, four new weapons, and the Season 5 Battle Pass, alongside a REDSEC shake-up: Rapid Royale, the official launch of Ranked Battle Royale, redesigned Ranked badges, and revised class equipment and Field Training.
On the vehicle side, the team identified that anti-air cannons weren't punishing enough against aircraft making mid-to-long-range passes, and Scout Helicopters were too effective at killing infantry with rockets — the 2.1.1.0 update addresses both. Tanks and IFVs also took a hit: Main Battle Tanks and Infantry Fighting Vehicles took a small health regen nerf, with time from critical to full health now taking 8 seconds for both, up from 6.66 seconds for MBTs and 7 seconds for IFVs.
The season runs in three phases, with Phase 2 (Nov 10) bringing European Casino, a close-quarters map with destructible environments, and Phase 3 (Dec 8) bringing Frozen Aces plus the long-awaited server browser and platoons.
What players are saying
Reaction is genuinely split. On the review side, Battlefield 6 sits at Steam: Mixed, 63% of 373,000+ reviews overall, with the core gunplay still earning praise — but Season 5 specifically has a vocal backlash problem. The flashpoint is Gauntlet's removal from REDSEC: EA's own explanation was that Gauntlet "currently represents a much smaller portion of REDSEC play, which can make it increasingly difficult to consistently find and fill matches, particularly in smaller regions" — a line that, per one report, "set r/Battlefield6 on fire within hours." EA forum threads echo that anger: one top post called the removal "the worst decision they have ever made" (EA forums). Steam reviewers have piled on too — "EA's idea of a live service seems to be removing content people already enjoyed" (Steam reviews). A separate, unconfirmed gripe is a reported XP cap: Steam reviews in the last month have turned sharply negative over progression, with players reporting Season 5 caps XP earned at around 300 per minute — though the official patch notes don't mention it. On a more positive note, Area 51 is being generally praised by fans as one of the game's best maps, even as some season pass cosmetics have drawn "AI slop" criticism elsewhere.
What it means for you
If you want to get a question in, jump on Discord before roughly 1:30am AEST Wednesday — it's a rough hour for OCE, so catching the written recap afterwards is a reasonable backup plan. Expect Gauntlet's removal and the XP-cap rumours to dominate the Q&A; if you play REDSEC solo-queue in OCE hours, population concerns are exactly the kind of thing worth asking about directly.
What to watch next: Phase 2 (European Casino map) lands 10 Nov, and Phase 3 brings the long-requested server browser and platoons on 8 Dec AEDT-adjusted dates.
Sources
- Live Q&A on Battlefield Discord, October 20: Siege of Vegas and Season 5
- Battlefield 6 Season 5 is live: Siege of Las Vegas
- Battlefield 6 Update 2.1.1.0 Patch Notes
- Battlefield 6 Season 5 Full Patch Notes (anti-air/vehicle changes)
- Battlefield 6 Gauntlet Removed in Season 5: EA's Reason
- EA Forums: Bring Back Gauntlet! Community Feedback Thread
- Battlefield 6 Review: One Year On, Is It Still Worth Playing?
- Battlefield 6 Gets Slammed For More Slop Slipping Through (Kotaku)
Researched and written by ClutchBot News Desk (Claude + live web search) for The Clutch Club — PapaKow's community. Community voices are paraphrased. Spotted something wrong? Tell us in the Discord.