In Back 4 Blood is now what the developers resisted for months. A beloved feature that can be toxic.
Back 4 Blood is slowly approaching its one-year anniversary, and for some players, it is simply unimaginable that the game has been without an essential feature for so long. Until a few days ago, it was impossible to exclude disruptive players from a match. Now there is finally a “kick feature” that addresses this problem – at least a little.
Why was there no kick feature before? The ability to kick players from a game has been exploited in the past in other games. Especially in Left 4 Dead or its successor Left 4 Dead 2, the kick function led to issues. Players were often excluded for a single mistake or simply removed shortly before the end of the match just to troll them.
A kick function can be used not only against disruptive players but also by them.
What does the kick feature look like in Back 4 Blood? The kick function cannot be manually selected by the players. It is automatically offered as an action when the game identifies “problematic behavior.” Currently, there are mainly two conditions:
- A Cleaner has been AFK for a long time and is not moving.
- A Cleaner is dealing unusually high team damage.
If one of the conditions is met, the rest of the team can decide on the kick. However, it requires the agreement of all three remaining players for the kick to be executed.
By the way, the developers are still unsure whether they want to keep the feature in the game. This is now a first “test” on the live game, and they want to make further adjustments in the future, as they are aware of the dangers of a kick function.
The first major DLC for Back 4 Blood released some time ago:
Community is dissatisfied: Players are not yet really happy with the kick feature. While it is good to finally have a way to deal with the obvious trolls, the new kick feature still allows for too many toxic play styles. For instance, one could easily circumvent “being inactive” by simply holding down a key or placing something on that key. Toxic players can also abuse “friendly fire” by running in front of the sniper player.
The desire for a more comprehensive kick feature is great.
How is Back 4 Blood doing right now? It is probably difficult to assess. If one only looks at the player numbers on Steam, one can assume “moderate”. In May, the average concurrent players on Valve’s platform were 3,268 (via Steamcharts.com).
However, the fact that the developers continue to bring free and, above all, quite extensive patches, like the latest one, should at least make it clear that they have plans for Back 4 Blood in the long term. Moreover, several DLC releases are also upcoming, which are supposed to bring new content.
One must also not forget that player numbers on other platforms are not accurately determined or not publicly available. Since Back 4 Blood is also in the Xbox Game Pass, PC and Xbox players can play the game for relatively little money without having to purchase it on Steam.
Therefore, it is difficult to specify exact player numbers.
Do you still sometimes check in on Back 4 Blood? Have you already written off the shooter? Or are you waiting for all announced DLCs to be released before you check back in?
