The sixth season consisted of 20 episodes.[2][3] It aired 10 episodes for the first half the season, which began airing on June 2, 2015.[4][5] Filming for the sixth season began on March 24, 2015, which was confirmed by showrunner I. Marlene King on Twitter.[6] The season premiere was written by I. Marlene King and Lijah J. Barasz and was directed by Chad Lowe. The title of the premiere, "Game On, Charles", was revealed by King after the fifth-season finale.[7] It was previously said that the sixth season will not include a special holiday-themed episode between the first and second half of the season, which aired on January 12, 2016, however on October 9, 2015 at New York Comic Con it was announced that there would be a behind-the-scenes special.[8] Previous holiday-themed episodes have been the thirteenth episode of each previous season excluding the first season.[9]
ABC Family promoted the sixth season by creating an online contest in which fans of the show could be a part of the marketing campaign to promote the show by sending in their art for consideration.[10][11] The promotional poster was released on May 21, 2015 which was included in the June/July cover of Seventeen.[12] For the second part of the season, ABC Family released a promotional poster on December 15, 2015, with the new-launched name for the network, "Freeform".[13]