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Over the weekend, Battlefield Studios launched a new game mode titled Relaxed Breakthrough. To put it simply, this mode mirrors the regular Breakthrough setup but includes a few notable changes:

• Every squad includes just 8 human participants, with the rest made up of AI-controlled opponents.
• Actions done by human gamers grant full XP, while AI activities offer lower rewards.
• Just a pair of locations can be played: Cairo Siege and Empire State map.
• Features like Dogtags, accolades, and stat tracking have been turned off.

So essentially, the playlist lives up to its title: it offers a laid-back take of Breakthrough. At face value, one could assume there's nothing wrong, as it gives more options for players looking for alternative ways to have fun with the game. But, if video games have taught us anything, it is that you can't please everyone. Which is to say, a lot of Battlefield 6 fans are upset.

Player Responses: From Fury to Support

"People want human opponents. Avoid making the mistakes of your rivals," states a response to the official announcement. "Absolutely shocking concept," comments a different user. At the same time, on the Battlefield subreddit, one user notes, "I have no idea where we are headed with this title," and someone else details all the issues they consider to be problematic in Battlefield 6: "Fix bugs, fix drone glitch, correct rocket mechanics, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, fix awful hit registration. We do not require this bot mode."

On the other hand, amid the criticism, there are players sharing how much they're enjoying the new mode. "It's enjoyable to warm up, real players prevent it from being a complete grind but it's quite laid-back," 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 find a middle ground," states another. One reply via social media clarifies that as they're "a parent gamer with busy schedules, this is perfect for me," and another praises the mode for "avoiding intense competition."

Valid Concerns and Community Input

All that said, there are valid points to complain about the new mode. Some users have pointed out that it could increase queue times more extended for different playlists due to the large amount of playlists currently available. Similarly, certain regions often face AI-filled matches in the current modes. It also seems a little backwards that the mode does not begin without a minimum number of real players, even though it focuses mostly on combat against bots.

Finally, a major complaints is that Battlefield Portal was meant to offer complete rewards, even against bots, but that was removed when they tried to remove XP farming from the system. Thus Casual Breakthrough seems like the player base compromising halfway, as per a Reddit comment. Another describes this mode as the devs "making a mistake significantly, I experienced great enjoyment in the initial release, why did they feel the need to change it?"

Looking Ahead: Will Changes Occur?

Should the development team has proven anything so far with the latest installment, it is that they're listening and acting on player input. Assignments that were overly hard got fixed very quickly, as did the specific battle pass objectives. It is likely that, should analytics shows this recent mode isn't performing to their expectations, they will not hesitate to change it again.