Battlefield 5 cosmetics 'need to be believable, need to fit with the era', says EA

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A list which might include bagpipes and Scottish broadswords.

The inclusion of playable female soldiers in Battlefield 5 has courted controversy. Disgruntled players appear upset on grounds of perceived historical accuracy. "Player choice and female playable characters are here to stay," said DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson in response to the backlash last month—a sentiment echoed by design director Alan Kertz. 

In conversation with senior producer Andreas Morrell at E3, Phil asked if the developer is worried about historical accuracy in relation to the game's planned cosmetic items.    

"It needs to be believable. It needs to fit with the era," explains Morrell. "We're not creating a steampunk universe or anything like that. But if it was used, we can have it. Doing research for this, we stumbled across a guy called 'Mad Jack' Churchill, a British guy who was part of the Norwegian campaign. 

"He was the only one who's got a confirmed kill with a sword in World War II. He used to go into battle with a bagpipe and a Scottish broadsword. So I wouldn't be surprised if we included a bagpipe as an item because there was one crazy guy who used it."

As detailed in our everything we know about Battlefield 5 rundown, cosmetics won't appear by way of loot boxes, but will be available to purchase with real money and in-game currency.

Battlefield 5 arrives for Origin Access members on October 11. If you don’t have Access, the Deluxe Edition releases October 16, and the Standard Edition releases October 19. 

Additional reporting by Phil Savage. 

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Joe Donnelly
Deputy Editor, PC Gaming Show