For a certain kind of FPS fan, Battlefield 6's big multiplayer reveal is hitting at the perfect moment. Call of Duty is firmly in its slop era, leaving DICE and co. with an opening to be the only big-budget FPS around that doesn't devolve into a clown show of ugly premium skins like CoD's Beavis and Butthead or Rainbow Six Siege's Rick & Morty collection.
Will it actually stand firm? Battlefield Studios isn't making any specific promises, but its messaging is aligned on one thing: A desire to stay "grounded" in the world of Battlefield.
"It has to be grounded. That is what BF3 and BF4 was—it was all soldiers, on the ground. It’s going to be like this," design director Shashank Uchil said in an interview with DBLTAP at a London reveal event. "I don’t think it needs Nicki Minaj. Let’s keep it real, keep it grounded."
An ocean away in Los Angeles, DICE gave a similar answer, but stopped short of bringing Call of Duty into the conversation.
"What’s really important to us is that things feel grounded, and we want people to express themselves and to have cool skins and peacock in a way like 'I look pretty cool and I have this great weapon skin,'" DICE producer Alexia Christofi said in an interview with ComicBook. "But we want it to feel authentic to the franchise, that’s the approach we’re thinking."
DICE senior producer David Sirland also told ComicBook that the studio has "rules" around how much a cosmetic can change the profile of its four classes, which would present a hurdle for, to pull a random example out of a hat, a cel-shaded recreation of the American Dad guy to work in BF6.
"For example, there is a ghillie material on the Recon skins, and they’re not used on the other [classes] to really emphasize the differences," Sirland said. "There are some rules there, but it’s looser rules than 'It’s always going to look like this.'"
Not every dev made available for interview was as forthright about BF6's cosmetics policy. In an interview with PC Gamer, producer Jeremy Chubb sidestepped the subject of crossover skins with a parallel comment about the positive response to Battlefield 6's traditional grit look.
"Battlefield is about immersion and authenticity. If you talk to any of our vehicle players, particularly players that are into the modern era military hardware that we use, they just love the feeling," Chubb said.
"And certainly we're enjoying the response. People seem to be really happy with what we've got. And I would say that's partially the identity of the game and the experience."
When asked if the importance of that identity means BF Studios would make efforts to keep it that way, Chubb chose not to engage.
"We just can't talk about the roadmap, what happens afterwards. But you know, we're certainly excited about what we've got for launch."
Battlefield Studio's stance on immersion-breaking skins is encouraging for bleary-eyed FPS fans, but frankly, this is the sort of thing you have to see to believe. While Battlefield has shown some restraint with fantastical cosmetics in the past, EA's galactic expectations for Battlefield 6 might leave its makers unwilling to leave crossover money on the table. After all, Battlefield 6's free-to-play battle royale mode is on the horizon.
Remember, it was Call of Duty: Warzone's explosive free-to-play popularity that prompted Activision to get, uh, creative with branded skins in the first place, so it wouldn't be surprising to learn EA is inking a deal for Battlefield/Godzilla bundles as we speak, even if it doesn't take the form of soldier skins.
