🔗 Share this article

Recently, Battlefield Studios introduced a fresh playlist titled Casual Breakthrough. In essence, this option resembles the regular Breakthrough setup but includes several notable changes:

• Every squad has only 8 real players, with the rest filled by AI-controlled opponents.
• Actions performed by human gamers grant complete experience points, while bot actions offer reduced XP.
• Only two maps are available: Cairo Siege and Empire State.
• Features like Dogtags, accolades, and career stat updates are disabled.

So essentially, this mode delivers on its name: it offers a casual version of Breakthrough. On the surface, you might think it's a good idea, since it gives more options for players looking for different methods to enjoy the game. But, gaming history has shown one thing, it is that you can't please everyone. In other words, many BF6 players are upset.

Community Responses: Anger to Praise

"People want human opponents. Avoid making the mistakes of your rivals," reads a response to the official announcement. "Absolutely shocking concept," comments another. At the same time, in community forums, a player remarks, "I have no idea where we are going with this title," while someone else lists all the issues they consider to be broken in the game: "Resolve glitches, address drone issues, correct rocket mechanics, adjust aiming after sprinting, fix awful hit registration. 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 enjoyable to warm up, real players prevent it from being a total farmfest but it's quite laid-back," reads one Reddit comment. "The community doesn't understand that there are players who have lives and don't play this game all the time. Let them strike a balance," adds another. One reply via social media explains that as they're "a parent gamer with limited time, this is great for me," while another applauds the mode for "avoiding intense competition."

Constructive Criticisms and Player Input

Despite the support, players have valid points to complain about Casual Breakthrough. A few folks have pointed out that it could increase queue times even longer for other modes because of the large amount of options currently available. On a similar note, certain regions often face AI-filled matches in the existing playlists. It also seems a little backwards that the mode won't start without a minimum number of human gamers, even though it focuses mostly on combat against bots.

Finally, one of the biggest complaints is that Battlefield Portal was promised to offer full XP, even against bots, but that was removed when they attempted to remove XP farming from the mode. So this new playlist seems like the player base meeting them in the middle, as per a Reddit comment. A different user describes this addition as the devs "making a mistake significantly, I had so much fun in the first couple of days, what prompted them to adjust it?"

Looking Ahead: Will Changes Occur?

If the development team has demonstrated something to date with Battlefield 6, it's that they're listening and acting on player input. Tasks being too difficult were adjusted very quickly, as did the specific battle pass objectives. It is likely that, if their data indicates this recent mode isn't performing to their expectations, they won't be shy to change it again.