Update: EA is deploying a fix for the 'missing content' and 'purchase to play' errors locking EA App users out of Battlefield 6

A soldier from Battlefield 6. He's got what appears to be a burn scar along his right side and is clenching his jaw while looking off screen. He seems to be under interrogation in a dark room — (Image credit: Electronic Arts)

UPDATE (5 pm EDT, 10/10/2025): On the official Battlefield Comms account on X, EA announced that "team is in the process of deploying a resolution for the issue that causes players on the EA App to be unable to start game modes due to missing DLC/content."

EA estimates that the fix's deployment will be complete "within the next hour or so." Players will need to restart Battlefield 6 for the issue to be resolved.

It's Battlefield 6 day, and virtual warfighters are flocking to the front to dutifully ignore their squadmates' cries for revives and crash the first helicopter they enter. But as all those hundreds of thousands of launch day players arrive, some who purchased the game through the EA app are being denied deployment.

On the Battlefield subreddit, the Steam discussion forums, and on X, users who bought Battlefield 6 from EA's launcher say that after launching the game—and sitting through the launch day login queue—they're unable to play either multiplayer or the campaign. Even after multiple reinstall attempts, Battlefield 6 will insist that those users are "missing" necessary content, or that they must "purchase to play"—seemingly indicating that the EA app isn't correctly recognizing the software license for users who purchased BF6 through EA's own software.

"I've got warned about purchasing the game via the EAL, but I tried staying true to the bone, since I already have every other BF I ever bought on there," one redditor said. "And now I have spent 1 hour in a menu/shooting range. Done with the settings, now I'd love to play... but I guess I have to keep playing BF4 for another while."

EA has acknowledged the issue through its official Battlefield Comms X account, but hasn't yet diagnosed the problem.

"We're aware of an issue preventing players from accessing the game with some receiving an error stating they need to purchase DLC or similar," EA said. "Stay tuned for further updates as the team investigates this issue."

I wish I could say it's surprising, but the EA app has been giving us reasons to resent it since before it abandoned the Origin name. Luckily, affected users have also reported that they've been able to play successfully after refunding their EA purchase and then buying and installing through Steam instead. If Battlefield 6 is stubbornly refusing to let you play what you paid for, it's probably worth looking into.

Lincoln has been writing about games for 12 years—unless you include the essays about procedural storytelling in Dwarf Fortress he convinced his college professors to accept. Leveraging the brainworms from a youth spent in World of Warcraft to write for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, Lincoln spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as a full-time News Writer in 2024, bringing an expertise in Caves of Qud bird diplomacy, getting sons killed in Crusader Kings, and hitting dinosaurs with hammers in Monster Hunter.

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