Players complain that even with a large online presence and cross-play support, matches are often filled with computer-controlled opponents.
It became clear to me that there is a lot of confusion as to why you encounter bots in BF6 matches. I will try to explain. Bots join regular playlists ONLY under certain conditions: when players create a new playlist and the initial matchmaking takes longer (I believe we set it to 3 minutes). In this case, bots will fill the server to meet the minimum player requirement to start a match , which, if I remember correctly, is 24 players on each side in Conquest mode.
According to Sirland, this is done to speed up the start of matches. While matchmaking is in progress, the system continues to search for real users, and as soon as 48 live players are recruited, all bots are automatically removed. The remaining 16 slots are always reserved for real participants.
He noted that such measures are needed so that players do not wait "forever", especially in regions with low online presence. At the same time, there are no bots in regular matches — they are only available in special modes of the "Initiation" series.
Sirland asked not to leave the lobby, even if it contains only bots: if the first live player leaves, the session will simply close. DICE is also considering increasing the waiting time before connecting bots.
