EABattlefield Lead Producer David Sirland has cleared up the “confusion” around Battlefield 6‘s bots, explaining exactly when they are used and why.
Many online shooters use bots to fill their lobbies – AI enemies that look like real players, but often don’t behave with the same level of intelligence. Battlefield 6 is no exception, but players have grown frustrated with fighting fake enemies, as they feel it takes away some of the satisfaction of winning.
The community has also been debating how often they appear and under what circumstances. Now, a leading developer working on the game has tried to put the questions to bed.
BF6 dev urges players not to leave bot lobbies
In an X thread, David Sirland conceded that there is a lot of “confusion on what makes bots be in games in BF6,” so he revealed they only appear under these circumstances:
“Players kickstart a lobby for a playlist, and the pre-round takes longer than X minutes (I believe 3 minutes). At that point, the bots fill the server to the necessary limit to start the game,” he wrote.
“At that point, the game starts, and you can play with the bots instead of waiting. Other players in the same region, matchmaking on that same playlist, will join this server (as it has you on it). Each time a player joins, a bot leaves.”
In a 32v32 match, once a team is populated with 24 real players, the lobby is no longer seeded with bots, leaving the remaining spots for more real teammates.
According to Sirland, the main reason for doing this is to reduce the wait times, especially in regions or palylsits that are less popualted.
“The alternative to doing this would be full on waiting (possibly forever) to play on the playlist of your choice in regions with low population,” he added. “But to fill a server (the first in the region) – you need to stay with the bots.”
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He then urged players not to simply join a match and leave if it doesn’t immediately fill up, insisting it’s better to wait.
“Well, the reason for that is you are first. You need to stick it out (or at least give it a minute or two, or how [many] you are willing to try and wait for).”
Sirland ended the thread by confirming the team will “test longer wait limits,” but for now at least, the bots are here to stay.