Battlefield 5 Dev Says It's A "Shame" Battlefield 1 Didn't Initially Include Women

DICE has received backlash since the announcement that women would be included in Battlefield 5. There are many who accuse the developer of pursuing an agenda, bending historical accuracy to jump on "the bandwagon" of gender and racial inclusivity. DICE executive producer Aleksander Grondal disagrees, even saying he wishes his team had initially included women in 2016's Battlefield 1.

"I mean, if we were getting on the bandwagon, I created Battlefield 1, and we could've 'jumped on the bandwagon' that time around," Grondal told GamesRadar+. DICE did eventually add female Russian soldiers to Battlefield 1 in the In The Name of the Tsar DLC, but women were not prominently featured in the multiplayer prior.

Grondal continued, "I think it's a shame we didn't [add women], because that perhaps would've been better for us. I don't think it's a bandwagon thing, I think it's about gamers wanting to express themselves in different ways. If you take a look at Battlefield historically, it's been about expressing yourself through gameplay, solving problems the way you want to, and these characters fall perfectly in line with that thinking."

At Gamescom 2018, DICE has unveiled two trailers for Battlefield 5 and made several announcements. The first trailer depicted the bloody Battle of Rotterdam and teased the first real glimpse at Battlefield 5's battle royale mode. It was followed a few days later by another trailer that details how you will customize your own company of soldiers, from classes to weapons. DICE also announced the dates for Battlefield 5's beta and Microsoft revealed a Battlefield-themed Xbox One X.

Battlefield 5 is scheduled to launch for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on October 19. Preordering the Deluxe Edition lets you play on October 16.