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Over the weekend, the game developers introduced a fresh playlist called Relaxed Breakthrough. In essence, this mode mirrors the standard Breakthrough format but includes several notable changes:

• Every squad includes only 8 human participants, with the rest made up of 32 bots.
• Actions performed by real players award full XP, while bot actions provide reduced XP.
• Only two locations are available: Cairo Siege and Empire State.
• Features like Player tags, accolades, and career stat updates have been turned off.

So essentially, this mode lives up to its title: it's a casual take of Breakthrough. On the surface, one could assume it's a good idea, as it provides more options for gamers looking for different methods to enjoy the game. However, if video games has shown one thing, it's that you can't please everyone. Which is to say, a lot of Battlefield 6 players are upset.

Community Responses: Anger to Praise

"People want real players. Avoid making the mistakes of your competitors," reads one reply to the official announcement. "Absolutely shocking idea," comments a different user. Meanwhile, in community forums, one user remarks, "I have no idea where we are going with this title," and another lists all the issues they believe to be problematic in the game: "Resolve glitches, address drone issues, fix IVF rockets, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, fix awful hit registration. We don't need this bot mode."

However, amid the criticism, there are players explaining how much they're enjoying the recent addition. "It's enjoyable to practice, human participants prevent it from being a complete grind but it's quite laid-back," says a forum post. "The community doesn't understand that there are gamers who actually go outside and can't play this game 24/7. Allow them to strike a balance," states another. A response on Twitter explains that as they're "a battledad with limited time, this is perfect for me," and someone else applauds the mode for "not being overcompetitive."

Valid Concerns and Community Feedback

All that said, players have constructive reasons to criticize the new mode. Some users have pointed out that it will make wait times more extended for other modes due to the sheer number of playlists in the game already. Similarly, some areas already encounter AI-filled matches in the existing playlists. Additionally, it appears a little backwards that the mode does not begin without a required amount of real players, even though it primarily centers on combat against bots.

Lastly, one of the biggest grievances is that Battlefield Portal was meant to provide complete rewards, including AI matches, but that was removed when they tried to eliminate XP farming from the system. Thus Casual Breakthrough seems like the community compromising in the middle, as per a Reddit comment. A different user describes this mode as the devs "dropping the ball so hard, I experienced so much fun in the first couple of days, why did they feel the need to change it?"

Looking Ahead: Will Changes Occur?

If Battlefield Studios has demonstrated something so far with the latest installment, it is that they're paying attention and acting on feedback. Tasks that were overly hard were adjusted rapidly, just like the required Redsec challenges. Chances are that, if their data indicates this recent mode is underperforming to their expectations, they won't be shy to make further modifications.