Ever since Battlefield V was unveiled earlier this year, fans have been at each other’s throats about the game’s level of historical realism, or lack thereof. Some took offense at some of the wackier costumes and character customization options, while others argued Battlefield has never been particularly realistic. Of course, there are also those using “realism” as code for “I don’t want women and minorities in the game.” It’s all a bit of a mess, and DICE’s inconsistent messaging on the subject hasn’t helped matters – on the one hand, they say they’re bringing fans real, untold stories of WWII, but then insist they’re focusing on fun over authenticity. Which is it?
Well, this weekend DICE hosted a deep dive livestream with Battlefield V producer Andrew Gulotta and community manager Dan Mitre, and, it seems the studio is backing away from some of the more out there customization options hinted at in earlier trailers. Here’s what Gulotta had to say on the subject (jump to the 28:10 point to listen to the exchange yourself).
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“We heard the community. We’re still looking at World War II through DICE’s lens, but how forward, how crazy we got with some of that? We heard the community, we understand there were some concerns about, hey, where’s the authenticity? We want players to be excited about customizating their characters with authentic gear. We dialed it back a bit. It was pretty crazy. We wanted to offer some authenticity, and that’s important to us, that’s important to our players.”
That said, some crazier stuff could still be offered sometime down the line.
“Nothing is off the table. Again, we’ll watch how the community reacts, maybe we’ll try something. The nice thing about the armory, is we can put something out there, and if it doesn’t stick, it doesn’t stick. But first and foremost, we want to start with this authenticity approach.”
You can already see evidence of DICE toning things down in their most recent Battlefield V trailer, which made the game look like a more of a traditional WWII shooter experience. Personally, I have no issue with a more over-the-top approach, these are video games after all, but I do think it’s important DICE sends a consistent message – if they want to brand Battlefield V an authentic experience, then that’s what they should deliver. We’ll see if they come through.
Battlefield V storms onto PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on November 20.
