DICE Says It's "Difficult" To Remove Russian Forces From Battlefield 2042 Despite Ongoing Ukraine Invasion

Publisher EA and developer DICE's multiplayer first-person shooter Battlefield 2042 has been in the eye of the storm for quite some time. Between a bumbling development roadmap and removed multiplayer modes, Battlefield 2042 hasn't caught a break. Its most recent problem comes from a design decision even the developers couldn't anticipate.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted a slew of changes for many video game franchises, spurring corporation movement from the likes of Wargaming and has led to EA removing Russian clubs and the national football team from its FIFA series. Yet, in the case of Battlefield 2042, removing the Russian faction is practically stripping away a portion of the game. DICE's General Manager Rebecka Coutaz said it's "very difficult to change in this entertainment game."

Coutaz continues in her interview with Eurogamer: "We are a military shooter game, and today on Battlefield 2042, one of the opposing factions is Russian. What we have done is an audit of the game and try to be as sensitive as we can to be with as much respect as we can for everything that we do."

One of DICE's first concerns with keeping Russian forces in the game was making sure their Eastern Europe devs felt "comfortable" with the decision. Coutaz says that DICE "listen[s] and help[s] them to take care of themselves." Whether or not players could see a change in the future is very uncertain due to DICE's stance on the matter.

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