"It’s that time again – with Battlefield’s latest chapter now out in the wild, we look back at the series to see which wars are still raging, and which have finally gone quiet."
For over twenty years, the Battlefield franchise has delivered some of the most cinematic, large-scale multiplayer battles in gaming. From historic warfare to futuristic combat, it has redefined what large-scale FPS gameplay can be.
However, as with all multiplayer-centric titles, time eventually takes its toll. Older games begin to lose their player bases, and features such as cross-play have become vital in keeping communities alive.
This yearly check-up covers all Battlefield titles released since Battlefield 4, including both the older non-cross-play entries and the newer cross-play supported releases that carry the series forward.
Battlefield 4 is doing fairly well on PC for its age, and it is easy to find full lobbies even during off-peak hours, despite Battlefield 6 and Battlefield Redsec having “sucked all the oxygen out of the room” with their record-breaking launch and continued popularity.
Unfortunately, it is not doing nearly as well on console. While it is still possible to find full lobbies during off-peak times, you may be forced to play on high-ping servers to do so.
Ultimately, it remains a great game, and there is still fun to be had on both PC and console.
However, the PC community is in much better shape than the console communities in 2025, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon before Battlefield 4 is delisted from all storefronts at some undetermined time in the future.
View our full review of Battlefield 4 (2013) ↪
Battlefield Hardline is very dead on all platforms and has been for a very long time, with the game having started to decline even before the release of its successor.
While the console communities occasionally do slightly better than PC, it is essentially dead everywhere, and finding full lobbies at any time of day is extremely difficult.
Ultimately, it remains a great game and one that I really enjoyed back when I had the chance to play it. But in 2025, it is beyond any hope of revival, and it is surprising that EA has not sunset the official servers entirely at this point.
View our full review of Battlefield Hardline (2015) ↪
Occasionally, developers strike gold, and Battlefield 1 was one such moment. It remains one of the best Battlefield games ever made, and that quality is reflected in its community activity even nine years after release.
Matchmaking remains viable on all platforms, and in the case of PC, it is doing remarkably well, with thousands of players online at any given time, even during off-peak hours.
One of the best games ever made, Battlefield 1 is well worth playing in 2025 and beyond.
View our full review of Battlefield 1 (2016) ↪
While not as active as Battlefield 1, despite its shaky start and the multi-front hate campaign waged by far-right content creators, racists, and trolls, Battlefield V has become one of the most active 8th generation titles, with daily averages close to those of Battlefield 1, quite a feat for a game that was decried by many to be “dead on arrival”.
While the console communities are not quite as active as PC, it is still easy to find full lobbies on both PlayStation and Xbox. The latter performs slightly better due to its inclusion with EA Play, which itself is included with Game Pass Ultimate (and PC Game Pass).
View our full review of Battlefield V (2018) ↪
Battlefield 2042 is in a strange place right now. After a horrendous start, it went on to become a truly brilliant Battlefield game that came close to recapturing the magic of Battlefield 4, while enjoying all the benefits associated with modern releases.
Unfortunately, the amount of time it took to fix the game meant that by the time it became beloved, it was already time for a new entry.
Battlefield 6 has since decimated the player base.
While it is still easy to find matches thanks to its robust cross-platform multiplayer support, the bulk of the community has moved on, and it remains to be seen whether Battlefield 2042 has the staying power of titles such as Battlefield 1 and Battlefield V, which continue to be enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of players years after release, especially considering the success of Battlefield 6, which enjoyed the most successful launch in the history of the Battlefield franchise, having sold 7 million copies in 3 days.
View our full review of Battlefield 2042 (2021) ↪
And that brings us to the end of the 2025 edition of the Battlefield Health Check.
Join us next year to see how the above games are doing, and how well Battlefield 6 fares when it is no longer the most recent entry in the series.
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