Applies to: Battlefield 6 and Battlefield REDSEC on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, as of the Community Update EA published on September 30, 2026. Season 4: Tidal Strike is still the live season. Everything below takes effect at the start of Season 5: Siege of Vegas, for which EA has published no release date.
Quick Answer
- Gauntlet is being removed from the REDSEC active playlist when Season 5 starts. EA stated it directly: "With Season 5, we're prioritizing Rapid Royale Solos and will be removing Gauntlet from the active playlist lineup."
- The stated reason is matchmaking, not performance. EA says 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."
- It is not confirmed gone forever. EA's wording is "we're leaving the door open to its return in the future."
- Rapid Royale Solos is what takes the slot, with Rapid Royale Trios joining alongside it at Season 5 start after testing in Battlefield Labs.
- Battle Royale Duos is also pausing. The current Solos and Duos rotation ends at Season 5 start, with Duos "currently planning" to return later in the season.
- If you have unfinished Gauntlet challenges, your deadline is the Season 5 start date. EA has not published that date, which means the grind window is unknown and could be short.
- One change is already live: EA has updated Ranked matchmaking bands to better align players within their intended Rank ranges.
Battlefield REDSEC has three modes competing for the same player pool, and on September 30, 2026 EA confirmed that one of them loses. The Community Update titled "Siege of Vegas Incoming" is mostly a Season 5 preview, but the line buried in its REDSEC section is the one that set r/Battlefield6 on fire within hours: Gauntlet is coming out of the playlist. Below is exactly what EA said, what it means for your progression, what replaces the mode, and the honest separation between confirmed facts and player speculation.
Why is EA removing Gauntlet from Battlefield 6?
EA gave one reason, and it is a population argument rather than a design one. In the Community Update, the studio wrote 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 or in regions with a smaller Gauntlet population."
The follow-up sentence spells out the trade: "This decision allows us to provide healthier matchmaking, more consistently filled matches, and shorter queue times in REDSEC."
That framing matters because of how Gauntlet is built. The mode starts with eight squads of four, cuts to six in the second round, four in the third, and two in the final. A single lobby needs 32 players before a round can begin, and the format has no graceful way to run short. EA's own Gauntlet documentation describes a reassignment system that moves players from depleted squads into other squads specifically to keep every squad at four, which is the kind of plumbing you only build when filling lobbies is already a known problem.
Compare that with a Solos battle royale, which can start partly filled and degrade without breaking. Splitting a finite REDSEC population across Battle Royale, Gauntlet and an incoming Rapid Royale was never going to hold.
Is Gauntlet gone permanently?
No, and EA was careful about this. The exact phrasing is: "While Gauntlet will no longer be part of the regular lineup, we're leaving the door open to its return in the future."
Read that precisely. Gauntlet is leaving the active playlist lineup. EA did not commit to a limited-time return, an event rotation, a Portal version, or any date. Nothing in the update suggests the mode is being deleted from the game, and nothing in it promises you will ever queue into it again either.
The same update closes with EA's standing disclaimer that "this announcement may change as we listen to community feedback." Treat a reversal as possible and unconfirmed, not as likely.
What happens to my unfinished Gauntlet challenges?
This is the single most practical question attached to the announcement, and it is the one EA did not answer. The update says nothing about Gauntlet-specific challenges, their rewards, or whether they will be retired, converted or left stranded in the menu.
What is known is the shape of the deadline. The removal happens "with Season 5", and EA has published no Season 5 release date, so the time left to finish Gauntlet-locked challenges is unknown and outside your control. Players reached that conclusion immediately, one writing: "They better remove the challenges from the menu then! For us completionists who are grinding those dang Redsec/Gauntlet challenges."
If you have Gauntlet challenge progress sitting unfinished, assume your window closes the day Season 5 goes live with little or no warning. Our Battlefield 6 challenges guide covers how reset timers and rerolls work, which decides how many attempts you realistically have left.
Separately, player speculation that Gauntlet-exclusive unlocks will be lost is exactly that. One of the most upvoted questions in the announcement thread was "So are the default specialists just gonna dissapear and not go to the main unit", and EA has not responded. No statement covers this case either way.
The Gauntlet window closes at Season 5 start and EA has not told anyone when that is. If the deadline is what is blocking you rather than the gameplay, that part is buyable.
- Battlefield 6 Account Leveling — bank the XP and progression before the season turns over
- Battlefield 6 Career Rank Boost — move your Career Rank while the Ranked bands have just been retuned
- All Battlefield 6 services — the full Battlefield 6 boost lineup
What is Rapid Royale and what does it replace Gauntlet with?
Rapid Royale is the mode taking the slot. EA confirmed that "at the start of Season 5, Rapid Royale Trios and Solos will join REDSEC," and describes it as "a more condensed Battle Royale experience built around faster matches and more frequent engagements." If it feels familiar, that is intentional: EA says Battlefield Labs participants "helped us evaluate and refine the experience ahead of its Season 5 release."
The structural change is a straight swap of a round-based elimination format for a faster battle royale variant. Gauntlet ran four scored rounds with a shrinking Combat Zone between them, and the mission pool mattered more than the gunfight. Over 70,000 different mission sequence combinations were possible in a single run, drawn from a pool including Circuit, Contract, Deadlock, Decryption, Extraction, Heist, Vendetta and Wreckage.
Those missions carried hard scoring rules that gave the mode its identity. Decryption paid 10 points after 50 seconds of calibration, and sprinting cancelled it. Extraction paid 3 points per drive with a carry cap of 10, so one player could bank up to 30 points in a single run. Contract paid a flat 15 for a squad wipe and eliminated the wiped squad outright. Every mission paid 1 point per kill and per revive, and all points doubled in the final minute.
None of that structure survives the swap. Rapid Royale is a battle royale, and beyond that one-line description EA has published no scoring, timing or squad-size detail for it.
What else is changing in REDSEC at Season 5?
The Gauntlet removal is one line in a much larger REDSEC pass. The confirmed changes from the September 30 update are:
- Battle Royale Duos is pausing. EA wrote that "at the start of Season 5, the current rotation between Battle Royale Solos and Duos will end," with Duos "currently planning" to return later in Season 5. EA's stated "current direction is for Rapid Royale Solos and Battle Royale Duos to rotate", but it is explicit that this is not final and depends on matchmaking data.
- The Phantom Program is staying active beyond Season 4.
- Reconnect is coming to REDSEC, letting you rejoin an active match after a disconnect.
- The Battle Royale loot pool is expanding with more gadgets across Police Vans, Ambulances and Class Crates.
- Ranked matchmaking bands have already been updated to better align players within their intended Rank ranges. EA confirmed "this change is already live", so it affects your queues today rather than at Season 5. If you are climbing, our REDSEC Ranked guide explains how RP and the rank tiers interact.
- Armor plating gets 20% faster across all classes.
- Class Training Paths are being updated across Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon, with new starting gadgets: Engineer begins with Repair Tool and M136 AT, Support with Supply Pouch and Deployable Cover, and Recon with T-UGS and Mobile Jammer. Our classes and Training Paths guide covers the existing paths these changes land on top of.
Does the Season 5 weapon and vehicle pass change my loadout?
It changes the armoured-target maths, which is the part that matters in REDSEC specifically. EA confirmed that "PDWs, Carbines, Assault Rifles, and LMGs will require an additional bullet to eliminate armored targets at specific ranges."
That is a direct nerf to time-to-kill against plated opponents at range, and it lands in the same update that makes plating 20% faster to apply. Together the two push REDSEC toward sustained engagements rather than the quick bursts that currently decide most fights. One player defended the current model as "that armor non sense is what makes the ttk more enjoyable unlike the base mp", arguing Gauntlet's model should be the baseline for everything.
Also confirmed: DMR tuning naming the M39 EMR and SVDM, and ammo-limit changes for DMRs and Sniper Rifles. EA says the full weapon-by-weapon breakdown lands in the Season 5 update notes.
These are announced Season 5 changes, not live ones. The live build is update 1.4.3.5 from September 30, and the balance baseline governing every weapon is still the 1.3.3.0 ballistics pass. Nothing in your current loadout has moved yet.
On vehicles, EA confirmed health regeneration, directional damage and weak spots, AA cannon improvements, Scout Helicopter rocket and resupply changes, M15 AV Mine and PTKM-1R adjustments, and vehicle-specific air resupplies.
What is coming to Portal in Season 5?
Both new Vegas maps join as Verified Portal Experiences at Season 5 start, with Custom support arriving later. EA also confirmed that water is expanding well beyond Ocean Sandbox: it reaches Sandbox and all REDSEC maps, named as Complex 3, Defense Nexus, Redline Storage, Area 22B, Marina District, Downtown, Golf Course and USS Grant.
The Crashed Carrier POI also joins Portal: a US aircraft carrier brought down off the coast of Fort Lyndon, carrying higher-value loot than standard points of interest.
For the season itself, EA confirmed three new Vegas maps across Season 5 with two ready at launch, new weapons, and a Server Browser arriving later in the season. What EA did not publish is a Season 5 start date, which is covered in our Season 5 release window breakdown.
Should you keep playing Gauntlet before it goes?
If you want the challenges finished, yes, and with urgency, because the deadline is both unknown and outside your control.
If you simply liked the mode, the reaction suggests you are not alone but you are in a minority, which is precisely EA's stated reason for the change. One of the most-upvoted replies came from a player claiming 1,054 hours played, 1,596 wins and a global ranking of 29th for wins, writing they were "absolutely gutted they're removing Gauntlet as it literally embodies what Battlefield is about; squad play and PTO". Another called it "the best objective based mode" and noted it carries content not available in multiplayer at all.
The counterpoint came from inside the mode's own player base: "It's not meant for dropping in solo with randoms though as premade squads rule this mode for a reason." A format that only works properly with a coordinated four-stack is a format with a structurally small audience, which closes the loop back to EA's matchmaking argument.
One practical note on XP. Gauntlet's removal does not change how Career, Hardware and Battle Pass XP are earned, and Battle Pass XP still accrues alongside Career XP at a 1:1 ratio. Our XP boost stacking guide covers where the real multipliers are.
FAQ
Is Gauntlet being removed from Battlefield 6? Yes. EA confirmed on September 30, 2026 that Gauntlet will be removed from the REDSEC active playlist lineup at the start of Season 5: Siege of Vegas. It is a playlist removal, not a deletion from the game, and EA says it is "leaving the door open to its return in the future."
When exactly does Gauntlet go away? At the start of Season 5. EA has not published a Season 5 release date, so the exact day is unknown. Season 4: Tidal Strike is still the live season and EA has never published an end date for it either.
Why is EA removing Gauntlet? Matchmaking. EA says Gauntlet makes up a much smaller share of REDSEC play, which makes matches difficult to fill consistently, especially in smaller regions. Gauntlet needs 32 players across eight four-player squads to start a round, so a thin population hurts it far more than it hurts a battle royale.
What happens to my Gauntlet challenges and rewards? EA has not said. No part of the September 30 Community Update addresses Gauntlet challenges, their rewards, or whether unlocks tied to the mode will remain obtainable. Assume your window to finish them closes when Season 5 launches.
What replaces Gauntlet in REDSEC? Rapid Royale. EA confirmed that Rapid Royale Trios and Solos both join REDSEC at the start of Season 5, refined through Battlefield Labs testing. Rapid Royale Solos is specifically named as the priority that Gauntlet is being removed in favour of.
Is Battle Royale Duos being removed too? It is pausing, not being removed. EA says the current Solos and Duos rotation ends at Season 5 start, and that Duos is "currently planning" to return later in Season 5. EA's stated current direction is a rotation between Rapid Royale Solos and Battle Royale Duos, but it says that is not finalised.
Did anything from this announcement change already? Yes, one thing. EA updated Ranked matchmaking bands to better align players within their intended Rank ranges and confirmed that change is already live, ahead of Season 5.
Sources
- EA, Battlefield 6 Community Update: Siege of Vegas Incoming, September 30, 2026: https://www.ea.com/games/battlefield/battlefield-6/news/battlefield-6-community-update-siege-of-vegas-incoming
- EA, Battlefield REDSEC Gauntlet 101: https://www.ea.com/games/battlefield/redsec/news/battlefield-redsec-gauntlet-101
- EA, Battlefield 6 Game Update 1.4.3.5, September 28, 2026: https://www.ea.com/games/battlefield/battlefield-6/news/battlefield-6-game-update-1-4-3-5
- Community reaction: r/Battlefield6 Gauntlet mode removal thread, September 30, 2026: https://www.reddit.com/r/Battlefield6/comments/1wuont6/gauntlet_mode_removal/
- Community reaction: r/Battlefield6 Gauntlet challenges thread, September 30, 2026: https://www.reddit.com/r/Battlefield6/comments/1wucsfp/gauntlet_is_going_away_dont_forget_to_finish_the/
