🔗 Share this article

Recently, Battlefield Studios launched a new playlist titled Relaxed Breakthrough. To put it simply, this option resembles the standard Breakthrough format but features several key adjustments:

• Each team has just 8 real players, with the remaining filled by AI-controlled opponents.
• Activities performed by human gamers grant full XP, while bot actions offer lower rewards.
• Only two locations are available: Siege of Cairo and Empire State.
• Elements like Player tags, achievements, and career stat updates have been turned off.

So essentially, this mode delivers on its name: it's a laid-back version of Breakthrough. At face value, one could assume there's nothing wrong, as it gives additional choices for players looking for alternative methods to have fun with the title. But, if video games have taught us anything, it is that not everyone will be happy. Which is to say, a lot of BF6 fans are mad.

Player Reactions: Anger to Praise

"People want human opponents. Avoid making the errors of your rivals," states a response to the mode reveal. "Absolutely shocking concept," comments a different user. At the same time, in community forums, a player remarks, "It's unclear where we are going with this title," and another details all the issues they consider to be broken in the game: "Resolve glitches, address drone issues, fix IVF rockets, adjust aiming after sprinting, fix awful hit registration. We don't need this AI-heavy playlist."

However, amid the criticism, there are players explaining how much they're liking 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. "This subreddit fails to see that there are gamers who have lives and can't play this title all the time. Let them find a middle ground," adds a different comment. A response via social media clarifies that as they're "a battledad with busy schedules, this is great for me," while someone else praises the mode for "avoiding intense competition."

Valid Concerns and Community Feedback

Despite the support, players have valid points to complain about the new mode. Some users have highlighted that it will make queue times more extended for different playlists because of the large amount of playlists in the game already. Similarly, some areas often face mostly bots in the existing playlists. Additionally, it appears somewhat counterintuitive that the mode won't start without a minimum number of human gamers, even though it primarily centers on fighting AI opponents.

Finally, a major complaints is that Battlefield Portal was promised to provide full XP, including AI matches, but that was removed when they tried to eliminate XP farming from the mode. Thus this new playlist feels like the community meeting them halfway, according to forum feedback. A different user describes this mode as the devs "dropping the ball so hard, I had great enjoyment in the first couple of days, what prompted them to adjust it?"

Looking Ahead: Adjustments Be Made?

If the development team has proven anything so far with Battlefield 6, it is that they're paying attention and acting on feedback. Assignments being too difficult were adjusted very quickly, just like the required Redsec challenges. Chances are that, if their data shows this recent mode isn't performing to their standards, they will not hesitate to change it again.