Battlefield 2042 Will Not Remove Russian Faction, Despite Ukraine Invasion [IGN]

DICE has no plans to remove Russia as a playable faction for Battlefield 2042, despite the current real-life Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Talking to Eurogamer, EA DICE’s general manager, Rebecka Coutaz, discussed the possibility of Russia being removed from the game and replaced with a different faction. “That is very difficult to change in this entertainment game,” she said.

Coutaz did say that DICE has audited Battlefield 2042 to ensure that it is “as sensitive” as possible, and that Eastern European development team members have been looked after in the wake of the Russian invasion.

“First of all, we were here at DICE of course, we were as shocked as everybody else on the 24th of February waking up to see what was happening in Eastern Europe,” said Coutaz. “We have a lot of team members coming from Eastern Europe and we have had to deal with that, so that they feel comfortable, and we’re here and we listen and help them to take care of themselves.

“That was our first concern. Then the second concern is 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.”

While DICE has no plans to remove Russia from Battlefield right now, parent company EA has removed Russian teams from both FIFA 22 and NHL 22 following the country’s military invasion of Ukraine. In addition, EA also pulled sales of all games from Russia and Belarus.

Battlefield 2042 recently launched its first season, months after its original launch back in November 2021. It reviewed relatively well, but has failed to win over the Battlefield fan base.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.