[QAD] Why Fake Player Operator Bots are Hurting Arena Breakout: Infinite

Firstly, I'd like to say the intentional AI bots in ABI such as the militia, guards, and bosses, are well designed keeping the maps interesting and dangerous. You've done very well with them, they are not the focus of this post. Instead, I want to discuss Fake AI Player Operators and their recent silent update into Lockdown mode.

The core appeal of ABI lies in its high-stakes PvP gameplay within an extraction shooter framework. Every decision, every encounter, and every victory or loss carries weight precisely because players know they are facing real, unpredictable human opponents. The introduction of AI that mimics real players fundamentally undermines this experience and caters to a more casual audience, which ultimately goes against the identity of the genre.

This not only frustrates long-term players who value real PvP encounters, but also misleads new players expecting human competition. Many are entering the game to PvP, only to unknowingly face AI in their first hours, leading to confusion, misunderstanding of mechanics, and potential disengagement before experiencing what truly makes the game good.

Speaking for myself, as a player with hundreds of hours in the game, I’ve avoided normal mode from the start due to the high number of fake player bots encountered. As a 50-star Legend, there's no reason I should be matched against these fake players. It offers no sense of achievement and actively detracts from the PvP experience I'm looking for. In the past, these bots were confined to normal mode, which could be avoided, but with the recent addition of fake player bots in Lockdown, I’m now forced to encounter them in my most-played mode.

It is my belief that fake bot players should not exist at all, except perhaps in the first few matches of a new player's account. If they must remain in the game, please limit their presence to normal mode only. Lockdown should be a difficult PvP focused mode.

Below is a summary of the key issues caused by Bot Players:

• Bot players give the impression of a dying game, it's bad optics for outsiders. It leads players to assume there's few real players to match against.
• It's dishonest and misleading, even for veteran players. Players go in expecting real opponents only to be met by fake bot players that put up no real threat and cause confusion.
• They're distracting, like decoy grenades across the map. They lower a player's focus, causing their guard to drop, which ultimately leads to getting killed.
• ABI is a game of information, fake player bots disrupt this. Real player audio cues are drowned out by the constant firing of fake bot players.
• Horrible first impressions for new players, particularly experienced fps players. Many streamers, myself included, repeatedly hear the question from new players: "When will I start to encounter real players?" They’re left confused and bored by their initial experience.
• The Steam launch will be negatively impacted for all the reasons mentioned. Fake player bots lead to a poor gameplay experience for both new and veteran players, and this will be reflected in the reviews.
• Contradicts the point of Lockdown being challenging
• Contradicts the foundation of the game
• Problem appears worse on some servers, you'll find more bots depending on where you're playing from.
• Longer queues with no bots is better than short queues with bots, although queue times were never an issue to begin with
• Significant change to the game dropped with no communication. Updates should come with detailed patch notes, players would greatly appreciate this.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, I love your game and only want to see it succeed.

A big shoutout to Kritikal for helping develop these points.