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Over the weekend, the game developers introduced a new game mode called Relaxed Breakthrough. In essence, this option mirrors the standard Breakthrough setup but includes several key changes:

• Each team includes only eight human participants, with the rest made up of 32 bots.
• Activities performed by human gamers award full XP, while bot actions offer lower rewards.
• Just a pair of locations can be played: Siege of Cairo and Empire State map.
• Elements like Dogtags, accolades, 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, you might think it's a good idea, since it gives more options for players seeking alternative ways to have fun with the title. But, gaming history have taught us anything, it's that you can't please everyone. In other words, many BF6 fans are mad.

Player Reactions: Anger to Support

"Gamers prefer human opponents. Don't repeat the errors of your competitors," reads one reply to the mode reveal. "Absolutely shocking concept," says another. Meanwhile, in community forums, one user remarks, "It's unclear where we are going with this game," and another lists everything they consider to be problematic in the game: "Fix bugs, address drone issues, fix IVF rockets, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, fix awful hit registration. We do not require this bot mode."

However, amid the criticism, some gamers explaining how much they're liking the new mode. "It's enjoyable to practice, real players prevent it from being a total farmfest but it's very relaxed," reads a forum post. "This subreddit fails to see that there are gamers who have lives and can't play this title 24/7. Allow them to strike a balance," adds another. A response on Twitter explains that as they're "a battledad with limited time, this is great for me," while another applauds the mode for "not being overcompetitive."

Constructive Criticisms and Community Feedback

All that said, there are constructive reasons to criticize the new mode. Some users have highlighted that it will make queue times more extended for other modes due to the sheer number of options currently available. Similarly, certain regions often face mostly bots in the current modes. It also seems a little backwards that the mode does not begin without a required amount of real players, despite it focuses mostly on fighting AI opponents.

Finally, one of the biggest complaints is that Battlefield Portal was meant to provide complete rewards, including AI matches, but that got canned when they attempted to eliminate XP farming from the mode. So Casual Breakthrough feels like the player base meeting them halfway, according to forum feedback. Another describes this addition as the developers "dropping the ball so hard, I had so much fun in the first couple of days, what prompted them to change it?"

Looking Ahead: Adjustments Occur?

If the development team has proven anything so far with Battlefield 6, it's that they're listening and acting on player input. Tasks being too difficult were adjusted rapidly, as did the specific battle pass objectives. It is likely that, should analytics shows this recent mode isn't performing to their expectations, they won't be shy to change it again.