A new Battlefield 6 "casual" mode aims to find middle ground as dev continues fightback against XP farming

A new Battlefield 6 Casual Breakthrough mode has just been launched as Battlefield Studios continues to find a middle ground between XP farmers and those just looking to have a more relaxing time in one of this year's best multiplayer games. The new format strikes a balance between PvP competition against real humans and bots, allowing challenge completion but with experience gains balanced around the enemies you interact with.

"We understand that sometimes you want to jump into Battlefield but without the intensity of a full PvP lobby," the Battlefield 6 developer writes. This has been a difficult point of contention thus far; last week, the team continued its crackdown on BF6 XP farming by applying reduced experience rates to Portal experiences that aren't verified with 'bot backfill' disabled. The new Casual Breakthrough mode, which is now live from the multiplayer tab, aims to offer an olive branch to players who aren't feeling like getting sweaty.

Trying to keep up with other players and work your way through the progression tracks can feel overwhelming at times, and some of the more frustrating challenges have left people seeking out the best BF6 Portal codes to help. This new mode, however, aims to offer "a more relaxed way to play while still earning progression and completing challenges."

Casual Breakthrough features two teams of 24 each, with eight human players and 16 bots on either side. You're able to earn career, weapon, and battle pass experience, as well as complete challenges, with full XP gains for any actions taken against real opponents but reduced rates from the AI-controlled enemies.

Currently, the mode is available on two Battlefield 6 maps, Siege of Cairo and Empire State, and it doesn't offer dogtags, accolades, or career stat upgrades. "Let us know what you think of the new mode," Battlefield Studios says. "We'll be monitoring your feedback to determine if further adjustments are needed in the future."

Elsewhere, the developer has made "some temporary adjustments to XP" for the Strikepoint mode "to maintain fair and consistent progression" while it investigates an exploit that was allowing major, rapid experience gains.

Have you settled on the best Battlefield 6 guns yet? We've got a rundown of the top picks, alongside a guide to the best Battlefield 6 settings to optimize your fps and PC performance.

Will you be playing the new casual mode, or do you prefer to go all-in against full teams of real opponents? Let us know in the PCGamesN Discord server. I'm certainly interested to try it; I always enjoyed Titanfall 2's use of computer-controlled grunts, but I'm not convinced whether it'll work as well if they're supposed to be fully capable team members.