The Latest Casual Game Mode Sparks Heated Discussions Over AI Players, Experience Points, and Wait Times

Over the weekend, Battlefield Studios launched a fresh playlist called Relaxed Breakthrough. To put it simply, this mode resembles the standard Breakthrough format but features a few key adjustments:

• Every squad includes only eight human participants, with the rest filled by 32 bots.
• Activities done by real players grant complete experience points, while AI activities offer reduced XP.
• Only two maps can be played: Cairo Siege and Empire State map.
• Elements like Player tags, accolades, and career stat updates have been turned off.

In short, this mode lives up to its title: it offers a casual take of Breakthrough. At face value, one could assume it's a good idea, as it provides additional choices for gamers seeking different methods to enjoy the title. But, if video games has shown one thing, it's that you can't please everyone. In other words, a lot of Battlefield 6 players are mad.

Player Reactions: Anger to Praise

"People want real players. Avoid making the errors of your rivals," states a response to the official announcement. "Truly disappointing idea," comments a different user. Meanwhile, on the Battlefield subreddit, one user notes, "It's unclear where we are headed with this game," while someone else lists all the issues they consider to be broken in Battlefield 6: "Fix bugs, address drone issues, correct rocket mechanics, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, improve hit detection. We don't need this AI-heavy playlist."

However, amid the criticism, there are players sharing how much they're enjoying the new mode. "It's very fun to practice, human participants prevent it from being a complete grind but it's quite laid-back," reads a forum post. "The community fails to see that there are gamers who actually go outside and can't play this game 24/7. Let them strike a balance," states a different comment. A response on Twitter explains that as they're "a parent gamer with busy schedules, this is great for me," and another applauds the mode for "avoiding intense competition."

Valid Concerns and Player Input

Despite the support, there are constructive reasons to complain about the new mode. A few folks have pointed out that it could increase wait times even longer for other modes due to the sheer number of options in the game already. On a similar note, certain regions often face mostly bots in the current modes. Additionally, it appears a little backwards that the mode does not begin without a required amount of human gamers, even though it focuses mostly on fighting AI opponents.

Lastly, a major complaints is that a previous feature was promised to provide full XP, even against bots, but that was removed when they attempted to remove bot farms from the system. Thus Casual Breakthrough seems like the community meeting them in the middle, according to forum feedback. A different user describes this addition as the developers "making a mistake so hard, I experienced great enjoyment in the initial release, why did they feel the need to change it?"

Looking Ahead: Adjustments Be Made?

Should Battlefield Studios has demonstrated something to date with the latest installment, it's that they're listening and acting on feedback. Tasks being too difficult were adjusted very quickly, just like the specific battle pass objectives. It is likely that, should analytics indicates this new playlist isn't performing to their expectations, they won't be shy to make further modifications.