Multiplayer games slipping bots into matches without telling players is a growing problem that grinds my gears. It’s not just lazy design; it’s a sneaky way to fool players into thinking they’re doing better than they are. That’s a rotten deal for anyone looking for a fair fight.
Developers have been pushing this tactic more and more, borrowing a nasty trick from mobile games. While it’s more common in Asia, big titles like Marvel Rivals, PUBG, and Fortnite have been caught mixing bots with real players. These bots often have names that sound normal at first glance, but experienced players spot them quickly.
Some Fortnite lobbies can be up to 90% bots. That’s wild. Players often only face two or three real squads, with the rest being easy-to-kill bots. It creates a weird situation where you can’t tell who’s real and who’s not, which ruins the core of a battle royale. How can you even call it a battle royale when most of the competition is fake? Epic Games has enough players to fill lobbies with humans, so why resort to this?
NetEase’s approach in Marvel Rivals is even worse. After losing two matches, players might get dumped into a bot-only game, a so-called “pity win” designed to keep you hooked. I tested it myself, and it’s true. The bots have weird names, are level 1, and their profiles are restricted. It’s insulting, dishonest, and kills any sense of competition.
It’s bad for the community because it misleads players with fake wins, it undermines competitive integrity, and it harms anyone who learns the wrong lessons from these counterfeit matches. NetEase hasn’t admitted to this bot use, and Epic acts like their matches are legit. It’s a scam.
Thankfully, some shooters do it right. Games like Rainbow Six Siege, Halo Infinite, Battlefield 2042, Counter-Strike 2, and Call of Duty mark bots when they’re in play and only use them in practice modes or to fill spots until real players show up. That honesty goes a long way.
Now that Battlefield 6 also decided to add bots to lobbies, do you think it will be fun or more playable if some people queue in some dead hours? Have you run into bots sneaking into your favorite games? How do you handle it? Does it bother you, or have you just learned to live with it?
