Battlefield 6 launched October 10 with record-breaking player numbers, but the real story isn’t the 747,000 concurrent Steam players or the positive reviews. Portal mode dropped alongside the base game, and within 24 hours, players were running Shipment 24/7 servers.
Not a Battlefield map that “looks” like Shipment. Actual Shipment from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, rebuilt container by container using Portal’s spatial editor.
Creator Matavatar posted the recreation before Battlefield 6 officially went live, suspending the map in Operation Firestorm’s skybox using concrete blocks shaped into shipping containers. Spawn points configured for both teams. Scale matching COD’s claustrophobic corridors:
Should be available on day 1… pic.twitter.com/k0pXyGbfsI
Naturally, the community response was immediate: multiple dedicated servers, 100+ likes, and players are probably asking why they’d wait for Black Ops 7 when Shipment already works here.
Battlefield 6’s Portal Turns Players Into Activision’s Competition
Think about how many times you’ve wanted permanent Shipment or Nuketown playlists. Activision rotates them in and out based on whatever internal schedule suits them. Meanwhile in Battlefield 6
The timing makes this particularly brutal for Call of Duty since Black Ops 7 launches November 14, exactly one month from now. Activision’s beta peaked at 99,000 Steam players while DICE hit 521,000, and now Portal’s delivering iconic COD maps with Battlefield’s destruction physics and 128-player servers before the competition even ships. Why would anyone wait?
EA weaponized community creativity in a way that turns every piece of Activision’s gated content into something Portal users can replicate and share freely. Counter-Strike players are building Dust2 with custom rulesets, someone made a crude Star Destroyer because they could, and the flexibility keeps expanding as more people learn what’s possible
Why This Changes Everything for the FPS Competition
Halo 3′s Forge kept that game alive for seven years after launch. Counter-Strike’s workshop extended its lifespan indefinitely. Portal has that same potential if EA doesn’t sabotage it.
The difference, though, is scale. Forge required technical knowledge. Portal’s Godot SDK is accessible enough that day-one recreations appeared before most players finished downloading the game.
Now, legal concerns do exist but they seem very unlikely to matter. Activision could theoretically pursue takedowns for COD map recreations, but that’s a PR nightmare waiting to happen. More importantly, EA has made zero public statements restricting such content. Their silence speaks volumes about embracing Portal as a weapon against their competition.
The real test comes in three weeks when Black Ops 7 drops and we see whether Activision can accelerate content releases to compete with crowd-sourced creation velocity. That’s probably not sustainable long-term, which leaves them doubling down on their traditional model and hoping brand loyalty carries them through.
Tough sell when players can already get the content they want without waiting for Activision’s permission.
Has Portal changed where you’re spending your money in November, or does BO7 still have your attention? Let us know in the comments below!
