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Over the weekend, Battlefield Studios introduced a new game mode titled Relaxed Breakthrough. To put it simply, this mode resembles the regular Breakthrough format but features a few notable changes:

• Every squad has just eight real players, with the rest made up of AI-controlled opponents.
• Actions done by human gamers grant full XP, while AI activities provide lower rewards.
• Just a pair of locations are available: Cairo Siege and Empire State map.
• Elements like Player tags, accolades, and career stat updates are disabled.

In short, this mode delivers on its title: it's a casual version of Breakthrough. On the surface, one could assume there's nothing wrong, since it provides additional choices for players looking for different ways to have fun with the title. However, if video games have taught us anything, it is that you can't please everyone. In other words, many BF6 fans are mad.

Community Responses: Anger to Praise

"People want human opponents. Avoid making the mistakes of your competitors," states one reply to the official announcement. "Truly disappointing idea," says a different user. At the same time, on the Battlefield subreddit, one user notes, "I have no idea where we are headed with this game," and someone else details everything they consider to be broken in the game: "Resolve glitches, fix drone glitch, fix IVF rockets, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, fix awful hit registration. We do not require this AI-heavy playlist."

However, amid the criticism, there are players sharing how much they're enjoying the recent addition. "It's enjoyable to practice, human participants prevent it from being a total farmfest but it's quite laid-back," reads one Reddit comment. "The community fails to see that there are gamers who actually go outside and don't play this game all the time. Let them strike a balance," states a different comment. One reply on Twitter explains that as they're "a battledad with limited time, this is perfect for me," while another applauds the mode for "avoiding intense competition."

Valid Concerns and Player Feedback

Despite the support, players have valid points to complain about the new mode. A few folks have pointed out that it could increase queue times more extended for other modes because of the sheer number of playlists currently available. On a similar note, some areas already encounter AI-filled matches in the current modes. Additionally, it appears somewhat counterintuitive that the mode won't start without a required amount of real players, despite it primarily centers on fighting AI opponents.

Lastly, a major complaints is that Battlefield Portal was meant to offer full XP, even against bots, but that got canned when they attempted to remove XP farming from the system. Thus this new playlist feels like the community meeting them in the middle, as per a Reddit comment. A different user labels this mode as the developers "dropping the ball so hard, I experienced so much fun in the initial release, what prompted them to change it?"

Looking Ahead: Adjustments Occur?

Should the development team has proven anything so far with Battlefield 6, it's that they're listening and responding to player input. Tasks being too difficult were adjusted very quickly, as did the specific battle pass objectives. It is likely that, if their data shows this new playlist is underperforming to their standards, they will not hesitate to change it again.