Battlefield 6’s first season major update came out today. But when I say ‘came out’, I mean it nearly slipped and fell right at the door. The update consists of numerous features and at the same time, a huge bug that makes it impossible for players to log in to their accounts for even the game. Yes, you got it right; the main menu. The place where you, uh, select things to participate in the game. It is not working at all.

According to CharlieIntel’s report, the update has completely messed up the user interface of the game. A video posted by the user tonismann depicts the problem in all its annoying splendor: gamers are logging in, getting to the menu screen and then… nothing. The cursor or positioning refuses to budge. No tiles can be clicked on, no modes can be selected, one can only look at the screen. It is like the game is giving you a silent treatment after a major argument. It’s unbelievable that half the enemies in the game are not as tough as the menu, one player, starwoodgames, made it clear with his comment.

It is not just a minor bug which only a few players experience. Replies to the event are overflowing with gamers confirming that this is an issue. “So, I was not the only one with this issue,” wrote Ario, which very well expressed the mix of relief and frustration that the gaming community felt. It is an issue on the scale of the whole community, thus, the community has become a little agitated just as they were super thrilled about the new season.

Naturally, wherever there is a major bug in a big shooter game, the age-old ‘console war’ and ‘franchise war’ banter are not too far behind. The jokes and jabs began with the usual suspects almost immediately. “The COD killer 😂,” said Dominic Jones, alluding to the never-ending comparisons made between Battlefield and Call of Duty. Another user, GERSH, playfully provoked a little: “Battlefield doing MW2(2022) the old-fashioned way ❤️,” insinuating this type of launch issue is a nostalgic throwback. The whole ‘CoD killer’ argument flared up again in the comments, with users like 1dex6 arguing that Battlefield “literally killed that hot garbage of a game,” while others were just asking everyone to calm down. “Enjoy your game stop hating,” commented Lemon, trying to be the voice of reason amid the memes.

But, of course, it is not all doom and gloom along with fanboy disputes. The gaming community also has its innovative side. While the developers are not in a position to offer an official fix, players are already posting workarounds in the replies. User Alex gave a possible solution: “With a mouse, you can select the top ‘Lobby’ tab on the left side. With a controller, press Triangle or Y. Then you will enter the party, where you can choose the mode and search for a game.” So at least there might be a backdoor opened. Another common fix that has been mentioned is simply restarting the game, however, user Fah Q Tyrantz noted it is temporary: “Restarting fixes it until you go back to the menu.” You can match but then you are back to the start. Not perfect, but at least it is something.

To be fair, some players report that they have no trouble with it at all. “Worked perfectly fine for me,” commented MuscledRMH. That’s the weird part about bugs – they can be quite unpredictable. But the number of complaints that have come in suggests that this issue is indeed a major one affecting a big part of the player base. It is also overshadowing other feedback related to the update. User Ard-ri Bawk Bawk commented, “The audio fixes are trash too. Sure it no longer misses audio in high activity situations but all the audio is scratchy and low quality in that case.” So even if you are able to get into a game, the experience might not be perfect.

This whole situation is a typical case of an update to a live service game going just a bit off track. It occurs. The significant aspect is the speed of response from DICE. The community appears to be cautiously optimistic as DeadLeì observes that “they are great with quick fixes.” Hence, the expectation is that a hotfix will soon be rolled out to address the main menu problem. Until then, gamers will be in an awkward position – thrilled about the new Season 1 content but still unable to access it through the regular portal. It’s a strange limbo.

In addition to that, it also puts the game’s UI under scrutiny, a topic that has been debated since the day it was released. User unforgottenlive succinctly remarked, “Somehow the menu became even worse.” Ouch.