Battlefield 6 isn't filling servers with bots after all: during the open beta, "AI soldiers" will only appear in training grounds playlists

Update, August 8: After apparent confirmation that Battlefield 6 would fill half-empty servers with bots, EA has offered some "clarification on AI Soldiers within Open Beta." For now, you'll only see bots in the training grounds playlist for new players.

"AI Soldiers are only present on the 'Training Grounds' playlists within the Open Beta. This week is 'Breakthrough Initiation,'" EA says in a tweet. "Breakthrough Initiation is a playlist that allows you to experience Breakthrough alongside 15 other players, with additional AI Soldiers filling up the match thereafter. Training Grounds playlists are here to introduce people to the core elements of Breakthrough, and offer a smoother experience than a full lobby."

You'll only have access to this playlist through the first 15 ranks, "at which point it will disappear from the front end," and you can get a bot-free experience by jumping into Breakthrough from the featured playlist option.

That line about this being "within the Open Beta" is doing a lot of work here, as it seems the devs are leaving open the possibility that bots might still be a factor within regular playlists once the full game launches. Until we get confirmation on that point one way or another, however, you can rest assured that for now you can keep the beta action totally bot-free.

Original story, August 6: DICE has confirmed that Battlefield 6 will add AI enemies to servers to fill out lobbies, as opposed to letting matches go forward with empty battlefields.

Ahead of the Battlefield 6 beta, EA and DICE have been revealing new details about the upcoming shooter. Although a lot of dues are being paid to classic games like Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 and 4, this doesn't mean they are sticking to the ideas found in the older entries. Just like in Battlefield 2042, if a lobby doesn't have enough players, the empty spaces will be taken over by bots, which should, in theory, be less prevalent since the lobby sizes are back down to 64 players as opposed to the 128-player matches of 2042.

This was confirmed by DICE at a showcase event in Hong Kong reported on by Taiwanese outlet GNN (via Battlefield Bulletin on Twitter), where it was confirmed that AI soldiers will backfill servers that haven't filled out, but that DICE still intends to prioritize human players, but it wasn't elaborated how exactly that would come into play (whether that means AI will be kicked mid-game should players try to join or not).

This news, paired with the confirmation that the server browser won't be returning, and instead Battlefield 2042's portal system is returning. One user responded to the news saying, "The AI soldiers backfilling wouldn’t be necessary if there was a server browser with persistent servers," with a response agreeing, saying, "They are trying to make it difficult for no reason."

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