Battlefield 6's new casual mode Breakthrough is stuffed with bots, leaving some players worried it's losing what "makes the franchise special" but others happy to have a less sweaty option

There's now a more PvE-focused mode in Battlefield 6 called Casual Breakthrough, where two-thirds of the player-count is made up of bots. This is meant to provide an alternative to pure PvP, but it’s not sitting too well among everyone in the community, with some players feeling the FPS is drifting from what defines the series.

The official description states the mode offers "a more relaxed way" for players to progress and earn XP. The catch is, there's already a belief that the shooter is easier than some folks would like. "The game is already casual, it has no matchmaking parameters," FPS-focused streamer The Tactical Brit responded on X/Twitter.

"All this achieves is taking away memorable moments and replay-ability that makes the franchise special," he continues. "The more on-rails Battlefield gameplay becomes, the less we have a real sandbox environment."

Concerned about the heavy use of bots, he makes a stronger claim in another response: "Players want real people."

There's a subsection of the player base who seem a little alienated by some of the choices and additions EA and the Battlefield 6 studios have made post-launch.

"They see the feedback saying we're losing the real Battlefield, they see the small map outrage, they see critical comments on the BR being the main stage now - and what do they do? Another casual mode with mixed progression for smaller player bases," one Redditor states.

"I have no idea where we are going with this game," reads a top reply on the same post sharing news of the mode.

There have been some complaints about the overall feel of Battlefield 6 since open beta access, as players expecting the bombastic military FPS got something a little closer to Call of Duty in execution. Smaller maps and questionable skin designs compounded a sense the series is taking cues from competition rather than building on its own strengths.

That said, once casual people try out Casual Breakthrough, they seem to generally enjoy it. "As a battledad with limited time, this is great for me, and I'm sure others as well. Especially the 80% that never even go online to look up games," reads a reply on X/Twitter.

"It's a fun game mode for a few warmup matches and makes progressing grindy challenges easier," another Redditor states. You can't please everyone, and the Battlefield devs are learning that the hard way. And as ever, you control what buttons you press and what modes you play.

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