EA’s development chief initially rejected World War 1 setting for Battlefield 1 stating that he didn’t think it would be fun.
EA Studios boss, Patrick Soderlund, explained at EA’s Investor Day event that the idea of Battlefield 1 being set in World War 1 was rejected. The rejection didn’t last long as Soderlund changed his mind once DICE pitched EA their idea for the game.
“If you look at what other partners in our industry are doing, they’re going into sci-fi; we’ve had a lot of success in the modern military space. But we felt like there was a need for a change and when the team presented to me the idea of World War I, I absolutely rejected it.” Soderlund stated. “I said World War I, it’s trench warfare; it can’t be fun to play.”
The point about trench warfare not being a fun experience to play is a valid one. World War 1 is synonymous with trench warfare, which almost certainly wouldn’t make for an enjoyable game at all. Fortunately, trench warfare wasn’t exactly what DICE had in mind when they pitched their World War 1 idea.
Soderlund recounts when DICE managed to convince him: ”Then [DICE] came back with an incredible pitch, and gave me a glimpse at World War 1 and how different it was and what happened from 1914-1918. Basically, you went from swinging swords from the back of a horse in 1914 to flying bomber planes and tanks and submarines in 1918. The technical revolution or evolution during those four years is probably unmatched in the history of mankind. That, coupled with, it being the Great War, a global war that was everywhere, gave us locations that were different – and slowly pieces started to fall together.”
”We also wanted to make a more upfront, personal, visceral game so we looked at melee combat in WW1 and then we were like, ‘This is it! Once we started to realise what gameplay we could deliver and how the era would be portrayed in the engine and the grand scale of everything, we were sold on it.” he said.
Thankfully, DICE have not stuck to the classic tales of World War 1 that we would expect to see out of history books. From horseback combat to submarines, DICE are planning on taking Battlefield 1 to parts of World War 1 that people barely knew existed.
If you haven’t read our in-depth coverage of Battlefield 1, you can do so by clicking the link here.
Battlefield 1 is scheduled for release on October 21st for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
