'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has been ongoing for four months now, EA DICE confirmed that Battlefield 2042 will not be losing its Russian faction anytime soon.
The conflict has had a massive impact on multiple aspects globally, and the video game industry has felt the brunt of it too. But Battlefield 2042 will continue to have both of its factions, with the developers carefully monitoring the situation.
Battlefield 2042 has had a difficult time ever since its launch. While there was a lot of excitement and anticipation surrounding the title, EA and DICE's collaboration has seen its player numbers and ratings slowly peter down to abysmal depths.
There were a number of things missing at launch, and certain design decisions did not sit well with the player base. The player count had even dropped below 1000 at one point. But the game has seen a revival with the introduction of Season 1 Zero Hour.
Both the factions will continue in the live service Seasons of Battlefield 2042, according to EA DICE's general manager
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Rebecka Coutaz, the general manager of EA DICE, stated that the team had two immediate concerns when the war began back in February.
The primary concern was for team members from Eastern Europe, and next was to determine what they would do with their game, where Russia is one of the opposing factions.
Battlefield 2042 takes place in the near future, where society has been wrought with economic collapse, effects of climate change, and broken alliances. A global blackout resulting from a Kessler syndrome accident edged the two factions of the United States and Russia towards war. Coutaz mentioned:
"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."
Coutaz explained that making a change like that would be very difficult in the entertainment game.
EA also provided an official statement upon the matter, where an EA spokesperson told Eurogamer that:
"The Russian and US factions as they are represented today in Battlefield 2042 will continue in our live service Seasons. We continue to monitor it and will adapt when necessary."
This comes after EA decided to remove all Russian clubs and players from their latest iteration of the long-running FIFA series earlier this year. EA did the same for NHL 22. They have also formally stopped sales of all their "games and content, including virtual currency bundles," in Russia and Belarus.
