The first German War tale has been added to Battlefield 5‘s story in the form of Overture, which sees players take on the role of playing a German tank crew in The Last Tiger mission. The side of Germany during the war isn’t one that’s typically portrayed in games and so this update has garnered some controversy.
VentureBeat’s GamesBeat talked to some of the big bosses over at DICE about the new update and specifically about the potentially controversial nature of Battlefield 5‘s story.
“This isn’t a story which is about that,” DICE Design Director Eric Holmes said when asked about the distinction between the German Army and the Nazi party during the time. “I’d say this is a story—how to describe it without spoiling things? It’s hard to dance around.”
“We don’t distinguish between Nazis and Germans. We’re not trying to get anyone off the hook, or represent, shall we say, good Germans versus bad ones. I think what we’re exploring is what spread in that society, what was communicated, and what that did to people. We’re not trying to split that point down the middle. We’re exploring what it was like for a fictional crew of a real vehicle, and try to use that as an exploration of, what does that mean to them?”
This doesn’t mean the story is without heart and Holmes goes on to say that it’s moving and has power to it without being what he calls a “bubblegum story.”
“But we’re definitely not trying to split hairs or be apologetic in any way,” he says, adding that the developer are “trying to explore four people fighting for that army. What brought them there? What are they like? What was it like to be there? What is exposed about them?
“That’s the overall mantra for the game and the War Stories. It’s not necessarily a heroic war story.” Creative Directo Lars Gustavsson adds, saying “It’s about people—real, human people—in this global war. Portraying them, rather than just telling a heroic tale of soldiers taking on an army.”
New content isn’t all that’s coming with Battlefield 5‘s updates. PC gamers with Nvidia RTX graphic cards are also set to see a massive upgrade for ray tracing performance.
