Battlefield 1’s World War 1 Setting Was Initially Rejected

One of the things that has managed to immediately get people excited when it comes to DICE’s Battlefield 1 has been the setting- here is a brand new AAA game that actually dares to tackle a completely fresh setting. Not only that, on some level, it is just so refreshing to see a different setting than the futuristic/modern day combat setting that most shooters these days seem to be going for.

But the setting almost didn’t get approved. During an investors meeting, EA Studios Executive Vice President Patrick Söderlund explained how the setting was originally not approved by EA.

“The thing that Andrew spoke about in regards to the setting and why we decided to go for World War I, it wasn’t the most obvious choice. If you look at what other partners in our industry are going, they’re going into sci-fi, we had a lot of success with in the modern military space, but we felt that there was a need for a change, and when the team presented to me the idea of World War I, I absolutely rejected it.

“I said “World War I is trench warfare, it can’t be fun to play.” But anyway the team continued to persist in the fact that this can be fun, and showed up with a very short demo that convinced me at least that this was the right path.

“The good news is that whenever you take creative risks, and it works, you actually can get to substantial success, and I think that what the internet is telling us with 31 million views and the most seen trailer of the history of EA is that the World War I theme is resonating with players out there. I think we have done something that will be right for the franchise and right for EA.”

It’s good of EA to greenlight something as risky as this- and if the initial reception for the game is any indication so far, then the risk definitely seems to have paid off.