🔗 Share this article

Over the weekend, the game developers introduced a new playlist called Casual Breakthrough. In essence, this mode resembles the standard Breakthrough setup but includes a few key changes:

• Every squad includes just 8 human participants, with the rest filled by AI-controlled opponents.
• Activities performed by human gamers grant full XP, while AI activities offer reduced XP.
• Only two locations can be played: Cairo Siege and Empire State.
• Elements like Dogtags, achievements, and career stat updates are disabled.

In short, this mode lives up to its title: it's a casual take of Breakthrough. At face value, one could assume it's a good idea, since it provides more options for players looking for alternative ways to enjoy the game. However, if video games have taught us anything, it is that not everyone will be happy. In other words, many Battlefield 6 fans are mad.

Player Responses: From Fury to Praise

"Gamers prefer real players. Don't repeat the mistakes of your competitors," states a response to the official announcement. "Absolutely shocking concept," comments a different user. At the same time, on the Battlefield subreddit, one user remarks, "It's unclear where we are going with this title," while someone else lists everything they consider to be problematic in the game: "Resolve glitches, address drone issues, fix IVF rockets, adjust aiming after sprinting, improve hit detection. We don't need this AI-heavy playlist."

On the other hand, amid the criticism, 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 total farmfest but it's quite laid-back," says a forum post. "The community doesn't understand that there are players who have lives and don't play this game all the time. Let them find a middle ground," adds another. A response via social media explains that as they're "a parent gamer with busy schedules, this is perfect for me," and another applauds the mode for "avoiding intense competition."

Valid Concerns and Community Input

Despite the support, there are constructive reasons to criticize Casual Breakthrough. Some users 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, some areas often face mostly bots in the existing playlists. Additionally, it appears a little backwards that the mode won't start without a minimum number of real players, even though it focuses mostly on fighting AI opponents.

Finally, a major grievances is that Battlefield Portal was promised to provide full XP, even against bots, but that was removed when they attempted to eliminate bot farms from the mode. So Casual Breakthrough feels like the community meeting them halfway, according to a Reddit comment. Another labels this mode as the devs "dropping the ball so hard, I experienced so much fun in the initial release, what prompted them to change it?"

Future Prospects: Adjustments Occur?

If the development team has proven anything so far with Battlefield 6, it is that they're paying attention and responding to player input. Tasks that were overly hard were adjusted very quickly, as did the required Redsec challenges. Chances are that, if their data shows this recent mode is underperforming to their expectations, they will not hesitate to make further modifications.