Because it got annoying precisely five minutes before it even started, the Battlefield 5 subreddit has banned any discourse, hot takes, or general whining about female soldiers in World War II. The move came as a final straw after a Redditor was revealed to have falsified being an historian in order to get the attention of EA.
“We’re done, its over. New rule: No more bitching about historical accuracy, it’s a game, not a history book. Violations will have consequences,” reads the title of the post made by the moderator team. “Hate us all you want but we’re done with this bullshit … This issue has been discussed in a million threads but we’ve never been brigaded more than we have in the past months. Admins can only keep up with so much. We’re done wasting our time on this, every point has been made, no you’re not sexists or whatever, but this is just repetitive now.”
EA was expecting backlash for the (historically accurate) inclusion of female soldiers in Battlefield 5. In an interview with Gamasutra, chief design officer Patrick Soderlund made this clear. “Battlefield 5 is a lot about the unseen, the untold, the unplayed … The common perception is that there were no women in World War II. There were a ton of women who both fought in World War II and partook in the war … either accept it or don’t buy the game. I’m fine with either or. It’s just not OK.”
Later on, the post in the Battlefield 5 subreddit was edited to add a clarification that they’re aware many do have valid criticisms of the game’s customisation options. However, “this subreddit has proven to be unable to have a civil discussion about these things without devolving into name calling and slapfights.” Many took to decrying the censorship that the subreddit moderators were committing, failing to understand that their right to free speech had not been invalidated as they had not been detained by their respective governments.
