Over the weekend, the game developers introduced a fresh game mode called Relaxed Breakthrough. In essence, this option resembles the regular Breakthrough setup but features a few notable adjustments:
In short, this mode lives up to its name: it's a casual take of Breakthrough. At face value, one could assume it's a good idea, as it gives additional choices for gamers looking for different methods to have fun with the game. But, if video games has shown one thing, it's that you can't please everyone. Which is to say, a lot of BF6 fans are upset.
"Gamers prefer real players. Don't repeat the mistakes of your rivals," states one reply to the official announcement. "Absolutely shocking concept," says a different user. Meanwhile, in community forums, a player notes, "It's unclear where we are headed with this title," while another lists everything they consider to be problematic in the game: "Fix bugs, fix drone glitch, fix IVF rockets, fix [the] bloom after sprinting bug, improve hit detection. We do not require this AI-heavy playlist."
On the other hand, for every complaint, some gamers sharing how much they're liking the recent addition. "It's enjoyable to warm up, real players prevent it from being a total farmfest but it's very relaxed," reads a forum post. "The community doesn't understand that there are gamers who actually go outside and don't play this title all the time. Allow them to find a middle ground," states another. One reply via social media explains that as they're "a parent gamer with limited time, this is perfect for me," while another applauds the mode for "avoiding intense competition."
All that said, players have valid points to criticize the new mode. A few folks 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, certain regions often face mostly bots in the current modes. It also seems somewhat counterintuitive that the mode won't start without a required amount of real players, despite it focuses mostly on fighting AI opponents.
Lastly, one of the biggest grievances is that Battlefield Portal was promised to offer complete rewards, including AI matches, but that got canned when they attempted to eliminate bot farms from the mode. Thus Casual Breakthrough seems like the player base compromising in the middle, as per a Reddit comment. A different user describes this addition as the devs "dropping the ball so hard, I had great enjoyment in the first couple of days, what prompted them to adjust it?"
Should Battlefield Studios has proven anything to date with the latest installment, it is that they're paying attention and responding to player input. Assignments that were overly hard were adjusted very quickly, as did the specific battle pass objectives. Chances are that, if their data indicates this recent mode isn't performing to their standards, they will not hesitate to change it again.
Elara is a passionate writer and photographer who shares insights on creativity and mindful living through engaging storytelling.
