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Battlefield 5 is getting a 'Battle Royale' mode

DICE's upcoming World War II game drops on October 19th with bright colors, female soldiers, character customization and a 'battle royale' mode.

Sean Buckley Social Media Producer
4 min read

Hoping that E3 2018 would bring a ton of new details on the next game in the Battlefield franchise? EA promises it will -- but you'll have to wait. The company's EA Play E3 event hosted a new trailer for the game, but didn't show off many details. It did, however, tease some.

Much like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, who previewed a bunch gameplay tweaks to enable a battle royale mode, Battlefield V developer DICE has announced changes to its own series, and they're no less controversial. Specifically, DICE is bringing Battlefield back to where it all started: World War II. That setting will also play host to DICE's own version on Battle Royale, which the company promises will be a completely new and unique take on the genre.
Unfortunately, the game's first E3 trailer didn't show any of that gameplay off -- though it did give us a few very brief snippets of real, in-game multiplayer footage, something that was lacking from the game's reveal last month.

Oh, and the company confirmed that the multiplayer mode would have customizable multiplayer avatars with vanity items and will feature women on the front lines.

Most of the game's original reveal event (hosted, oddly, by The Daily Show's Trevor Noah) focused on the return to World War II and the core gameplay. That includes bringing back classic Battlefield multiplayer modes like majority rule conquest -- but there are tons of new features to drool over, too.

Take "grand operations," for instance. This upgraded mode takes players on a tour across multiple game modes and multiple maps. The operation experience isn't set in stone, either: the next map in a game will be chosen based on how the previous round ended.

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DICE

The idea, the developers say, is to use the progression of a battle to tell the story through the medium of online multiplayer. If you're looking for a more conventional narrative, however, don't worry: The War Stories mode introduced in Battlefield 1 is coming back to serve up adventures focusing on specific heroes.
Fan reaction to those heroes, however, seems to be mixed. Like Call of Duty, there are big changes coming to Battlefield V. Specifically, in the monetary department. Remember the lootbox controversy that plagued Star Wars: Battlefront II? DICE promises it won't carryover to Battlefield V, saying that players "can't pay to get an unfair advantage." They will be able spend real money on cosmetic items, however -- which will allow them to customize their in-game character.

For the most part, that's really exciting, but some fans are a little worried this will make the game feel a little silly.

And maybe they have a little bit of a point...

On the other hand realism has always been tenuous at best in the Battlefield franchise.

And who wouldn't want to play as God of War's Kratos on the front lines of World War II?

Actually, this idea is starting to sound really good:

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Most of the community seems to be honing in on good-natured jokes about the game's content and the character customization options, but unfortunately, there has also been some degree of backlash at the inclusion of a disabled, female resistance fighter in the launch trailer.

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Ah, Reddit.

@sebmal (Twitter)

In fact, the community is becoming pretty self-aware of the backlash and how it's distracting from talking about the actual game.

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Reddit

At this point, what role the character from the trailer will have in the final game isn't clear, but there's plenty of historical precedent for telling stories about the women of World War II. The US army may not have put women on the front line, but female soldiers saw action on both the Russian front and in the French resistance.

And indeed, many of the game's detractors recognize this -- but they still believe a British women with a cricket bat and a prosthetic asks too much of the game's historical setting. On the other hand...

Even so, the backlash has been big enough that the man in charge of EA's Battlefield games has felt the need to come out and address the controversy head-on. Oskar Gabrielson said on Twitter that female playable characters are "here to stay," saying that the Battlefield sandbox has always been about letting gamers play they way we want.

"We want Battlefield V to represent all those who were a part of the greatest drama in human history, and give players choice to choose and customize the characters they play with," he added. "Our commitment as a studio is to do everything we can to create games that are inclusive and diverse. We always set out to push boundaries and deliver unexpected experiences. But above all, our games must be fun"

At least the community can agree on one thing: DLC is terrible. Good thing, then, that Battlefield's series-standard DLC is gone: There will be no premium pass in Battlefield V. All players will get access to every multiplayer map released after launch.

Oh, and speaking of launch, the game will be released worldwide on October 19 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
Miss the live announcement? You can rewatch the whole thing right here:

E3 2018: Everything you need to know

E3 2018 coverage at CNET: All of our E3 2018 coverage in one place.

Watch this: E3 2018 preview

E3 2018 coverage at GameSpot: Wall-to-wall coverage of the show from our sister site, GameSpot.

E3 2018 coverage at Giant Bomb: Still more commentary and news from E3, from our colleagues at Giant Bomb.