🔗 Share this article

Over the weekend, Battlefield Studios introduced a new game mode titled Casual Breakthrough. In essence, this option resembles the standard Breakthrough format but features a few key changes:

• Every squad includes only 8 real players, with the rest made up of 32 bots.
• Activities performed by real players grant full XP, while AI activities provide lower rewards.
• Only two locations are available: Cairo Siege and Empire State.
• Elements like Player tags, accolades, and career stat updates have been turned off.

So essentially, the playlist lives up to its title: it offers a casual version of Breakthrough. At face value, one could assume it's a good idea, since it gives additional choices for players looking for alternative methods to have fun with the game. But, if video games have taught us anything, it is that not everyone will be happy. Which is to say, many BF6 players are mad.

Community Responses: From Fury to Praise

"Gamers prefer human opponents. Don't repeat the errors of your rivals," states one reply to the mode reveal. "Truly disappointing concept," says another. At the same time, on the Battlefield subreddit, one user notes, "It's unclear where we are headed with this title," while another lists everything they consider to be broken in Battlefield 6: "Resolve glitches, address drone issues, fix IVF rockets, adjust aiming after sprinting, improve hit detection. We do not require this bot mode."

On the other hand, amid the criticism, some gamers sharing how much they're enjoying the recent addition. "It's very fun to warm up, real players prevent it from being a total farmfest but it's very relaxed," reads a forum post. "This subreddit doesn't understand that there are players who have lives and can't play this game all the time. Let them strike a balance," states a different comment. One reply on Twitter clarifies that as they're "a parent gamer with busy schedules, this is perfect for me," while another praises the mode for "not being overcompetitive."

Valid Criticisms and Player Feedback

All that said, there are valid points to complain about Casual Breakthrough. A few folks have pointed out that it will make queue times more extended for different playlists because of the sheer number of playlists in the game already. On a similar note, certain regions already encounter mostly bots in the existing playlists. It also seems somewhat counterintuitive that the mode won't start without a minimum number of human gamers, even though it focuses mostly on fighting AI opponents.

Lastly, one of the biggest complaints is that a previous feature was meant to offer full XP, including AI matches, but that got canned when they attempted to remove bot farms from the system. Thus this new playlist feels like the player base compromising in the middle, according to forum feedback. A different user describes this addition as the devs "dropping the ball so hard, I had great enjoyment in the first couple of days, what prompted them to adjust it?"

Future Prospects: Adjustments Occur?

If Battlefield Studios has demonstrated something to date with Battlefield 6, it's that they're paying attention and acting on player input. Tasks that were overly hard got fixed rapidly, just like the required Redsec challenges. It is likely that, if their data shows this new playlist is underperforming to their expectations, they won't be shy to make further modifications.