Battlefield Studios has reversed controversial changes to XP earn rates that were implemented with the launch of Season 5. The developer confirmed that the reductions were unintended and have now been reverted to previous levels.
Players noticed a significant decrease in XP gains shortly after Season 5 went live, with reports indicating a cap of 300 XP per minute across all modes. This rate was considerably lower than pre-patch levels, leading to widespread player frustration and speculation. The timing of the XP changes coincided with the release of the Ultimate Shortcut Kit, a $30 purchase that unlocks all attachments and upgrades for classes, weapons, and vehicles, fueling player concerns that the XP reduction was a deliberate attempt to incentivize purchases.
"Following the launch of Season 5, backend configuration changes resulted in an unintended issue affecting XP earn rates across modes and hardware progression (such as weapons)," the official Battlefield Comms X account stated. "These backend changes have now been reverted, and our team is actively monitoring telemetry to ensure earn rates return to intended levels across all experiences. Thank you for your patience and reports while we continue to track this."
This is not the first time Battlefield 6 has faced issues with XP progression. The game has experienced similar problems with weapon XP earn rates in the past, with DICE dedicating significant time to adjusting how XP and score are earned. Earlier in Season 4, an XP boost was implemented, and the game has seen numerous adjustments to XP mechanics over time. The current incident adds to a series of unintended errors affecting the game's progression systems, including a previous change where XP boosters were intended to count down in-match rather than in real-world time, a change that was later reversed.
Adding to the rocky start for Season 5, the update also launched with a significant returning exploit and raised suspicions among players due to content that appeared to be generated by AI. Notably, the 'Audacious Breach' character skin features an arm patch that misspells 'Security' as 'Secuty', further contributing to player dissatisfaction.