Battlefield V is one of the most controversial titles in the franchise’s history. While it did not receive as much hate as Battlefield 2042, unlike Battlefield 2042, it had done nothing to deserve such hatred, with the vast majority of bad press centring around the inclusion of a female character with a visible disability.
While some incels let their hatred flow like water, others tried to at least disguise their rampant misogyny by carefully phrasing their disapproval in the wrapper of historical accuracy.
PLEASE, we are talking about a game where people perform no-scope 360s while riding on their friend’s shoulders; the Battlefield franchise has never been about strict authenticity and pretending it was, just to hide the fact many gamers resented DICE taking steps towards being more inclusive is appalling.
Image credit Battlefield V - Published by Electronic Arts and developed by Dice.
While I could go into detail about why this reaction was so appalling, I will instead list just a few examples of criticism from Youtubers who were adamant they were not sexist/ableist and let you decide for yourself.
No wonder the gaming community is in such a bad place when immature and deeply offensive statements such as these (and even worse) are shared by YouTubers and streamers with well over 1 million followers, poisoning the minds of thousands of young men with their Andrew Tate-esque misogynistic drivel.
Thankfully, Battlefield V was able to triumph over those who would seek to destroy it, being one of the most played first-person shooters on Steam, regularly peaking at over 50k concurrent players 4+ years after release.
Image credit Battlefield V - Published by Electronic Arts and developed by Dice.
Battlefield V was the first battlefield title in many years to release all maps to all players, straying from the traditional season pass model that had been commonplace since the mid-2000s.
This was a bold move and one that its main rival (Call of Duty) would not make until 2019 with the release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019); however, it has since become the industry norm, ensuring that games remain active for longer due to the entire community having access to every map, vastly improving matchmaking times and player retention.
Image credit Battlefield V - Published by Electronic Arts and developed by Dice.
Battlefield, on paper, is the perfect franchise for a battle royale; with massive maps, engaging gunplay and a wide array of weapons, it would be very difficult not to make a successful Battle royale mode, and yet that is exactly what happened when Battlefield V’s Battle Royale mode Firestorm launched several months after release as a buy-2-play product, something which has proven to be the death of many battle royale titles, considering the vast majority of the market, is free-2-play and as of 2022 none of the top 5 largest battle royales titles are buy-2-play.
Business model choices aside, Firestorm was an amazing battle royale, and I would love to see another Battlefield battle royale in future, as while the genre is overcrowded, there is always room for another quality title, and with enough development resources and a fair business model, there is no reason why Battlefield Royale could not be one of those titles.
Image credit Battlefield V - Published by Electronic Arts and developed by Dice.
Battlefield V is a first person shooter video game developed by Dice and published by Electronic Arts, it was released on 4 September 2018 and retails for $49.99.
Battlefield V is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Battlefield V is no longer in active development, and the developers have moved on to other projects.
As of January 2024, around 1,200,000 people play Battlefield V on a fairly regular basis.
Battlefield V is extremely active, and instantaneous matchmaking is possible in most regions 24/7; however, in very remote regions, there may be wait times of around one minute to find a full lobby.
Battlefield V supports:
Battlefield V offers the following matchmaking options:
The Battlefield V in-game store sells:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Battlefield V is rated PEGI 16+ and contains the following:
Battlefield V was never a bad game, and much of the hate it received was by gamers having a kneejerk reaction to DICE’s attempts to include a more diverse roster; while it had problems at launch and became better with time, it was never less than a solid 7/10, despite what its haters would have you believe.
