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The Battlefield 6 developers have been hard at work on improving the new shooter following feedback from its beta, with changes to everything from anti-tank and anti-air damage to the class system – and now, the game's infamous sniper glints.
For anyone unaware, sniper glints have been a hot topic of sorts in the Battlefield community since the beta period came to a close. From reports on Reddit saying the effects "need to be toned down" to players on the official EA forums calling for devs to "REMOVE SNIPER SCOPE GLINT IMMEDIATELY," the shiny glares were perceived as controversial at best – and unsurprisingly, this sparked hilarious memes about the bright lights, too.
battlefield from r/Battlefield/comments/1mm1g5r/enemy_sniper_spotted
In a new interview with IGN, technical director Christian Buhl and senior console combat designer Matthew Nickerson reveal that they know all about the criticisms regarding sniper glints – and the subsequent memes, too. "I saw those," admits Buhl. "I thought it was hilarious." He says it became obvious the team "needed to fix some things and tune some things, so it was funny to see players react in a humorous way to those things."
Buhl states, as amusing as it all was, it was "also great to get that feedback and say, 'We need to tune down snipers or we need to change the glints so it's not like…' you know?" He recalls, "I saw those memes with the hillside just full of these giant glares" – and he's not the only one, either, according to Nickerson. "Definitely from the design team, we loved sending those around, internally," the fellow dev chimes in.
"They're really, really funny, and they kind of magnify, 'Hey, we still have work to do, but also…' For example, with the sniper glint stuff, we knew it was too strong, so we stepped it back. We knew the bullet tracer effect was too strong, so we stepped it back." Nickerson goes over some of his favorite memes, explaining that, "At the end of the day, it keeps us honest." The team can look at players' feedback, funny or not, and work from there.
"It keeps us, like, 'Hey, we still have work to do. There are things that players are, maybe, not vibing with or are vibing with in different capacities,'" he says, concluding that Battlefield 6 devs "love" fans' creative reactions. "The community is engaged; we are engaged."
