🔗 Share this article

Over the weekend, Battlefield Studios introduced a fresh playlist titled Casual Breakthrough. To put it simply, this mode mirrors the regular Breakthrough setup but features several notable adjustments:

• Every squad has only 8 real players, with the remaining made up of AI-controlled opponents.
• Actions done by human gamers grant full XP, while bot actions provide reduced XP.
• Just a pair of maps can be played: Siege of Cairo and Empire State.
• Features like Player tags, accolades, and career stat updates are disabled.

So essentially, the playlist lives up to its title: it's a casual version of Breakthrough. At face value, you might think it's a good idea, since it provides additional choices for players looking for different ways to enjoy the title. However, if video games has shown one thing, it is that not everyone will be happy. Which is to say, many Battlefield 6 players are mad.

Community Responses: From Fury to Praise

"Gamers prefer human opponents. Avoid making the errors of your rivals," states a response to the mode reveal. "Absolutely shocking idea," says another. Meanwhile, in community forums, one user remarks, "I have no idea where we are going with this game," and another lists everything they believe to be broken in Battlefield 6: "Resolve glitches, address drone issues, fix IVF rockets, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, improve hit detection. We do not require this AI-heavy playlist."

On the other hand, for every complaint, there are players explaining how much they're enjoying the new mode. "It's very fun to warm up, real players prevent it from being a complete grind but it's very relaxed," says a forum post. "The community doesn't understand that there are players who actually go outside and can't play this game 24/7. Allow them to find a middle ground," states a different comment. A response via social media clarifies that as they're "a battledad with busy schedules, this is perfect for me," and someone else praises the mode for "not being overcompetitive."

Constructive Criticisms and Community Input

All that said, players have constructive reasons to complain about Casual Breakthrough. A few folks have highlighted that it will make wait times even longer for different playlists due to the sheer number of playlists currently available. On a similar note, certain regions already encounter AI-filled matches in the existing playlists. Additionally, it appears a little backwards that the mode does not begin without a minimum number of human gamers, even though it focuses mostly on combat against bots.

Lastly, one of the biggest complaints is that a previous feature was meant to provide complete rewards, including AI matches, but that got canned when they tried to eliminate XP farming from the system. So Casual Breakthrough feels like the community meeting them halfway, according to forum feedback. Another labels this addition as the devs "making a mistake significantly, I experienced so much fun in the initial release, why did they feel the need to change it?"

Looking Ahead: Adjustments Occur?

Should Battlefield Studios has proven anything so far with the latest installment, it's that they're listening and responding to player input. Assignments being too difficult were adjusted rapidly, as did the required Redsec challenges. Chances are that, if their data indicates this recent mode isn't performing to their standards, they will not hesitate to make further modifications.