Battlefield V Is a Codename Eagle Tribute and Definitely Not Set in WWII

This article details news about Battlefield V from EA DICE as a new game trailer drops Wednesday, May 23rd. It questions the accepted belief that the new game will have a World War II backdrop.

Some outlets like Destructoid and Highsnobiety think today’s Battlefield V teaser trailer absolutely confirmed the game’s setting as WWII. And they are totally wrong. With such a vague teaser video, it’s hard to jump to such a quick conclusion.

DICE games released the first ever Battlefield game in 2002, launching the Swedish game studio into popularity. Electronic Arts (EA) owned more than 60% of the company by 2005.

The franchise is now one of the most popular first-person shooters of all time.

Battlefield 1942 catapulted DICE games to mega-stardom, but Codename Eagle and Refraction Games came first in 1999.

Could this small cult classic be what the new Battlefield V trailer reveals May 23rd?

Here’s a quick nostalgic look at exactly how far we’ve come since Codename Eagle first dropped in 1999.

A Little History on Codename Eagle

Unlike Battlefield 1942 and subsequent games, Codename Eagle takes place in an alternate timeline. Set in 1917 in Petrograd, Russia, World War I and the October Revolution never happened in this timeline.

The story centers around Tsar Peter of Russia’s family in a Rasputin-inspired assassination plot involving corrupt General Popov, Prince Alex, and Princess Anastasia.

There is political intrigue, a doomsday device, secret royals reclaiming their thrones — really just lots of classic and meaty storytelling bits. But the game received middling success during its UK release in 1999 and U.S. release in 2000.

DICE purchased original publisher Refraction Games in 2000, then released Battlefield 1942 in 2002, as mentioned earlier.

This laid the foundation of all future Battlefield games to come in the franchise.

Enough Codename Similarities for me to Open MS Paint

The DICE developers teased many ominous, ceremonious tweets in May.

Phrases like “it’s a brand-new experience” and “every fight is different and brought to life across unexpected theaters of war.” This sounds so much like it DEFINITELY won’t be something as familiar and Call of Duty’d out as WWII.

So I took a still from the teaser trailer on Twitter and put it side-by-side one of the main Codename Eagle posters.

You can’t deny the similarities: the goggles, the thin cheekbones…the nose.

But all of this does not a definitive answer make. After all, it could just be a nice character reference to past DICE games rather than a remake or update. The wildcard that makes me believe it may not be WWII, however, is the hint at a Battle Royale mode.

Since everyone wants to get in on that Fortnite money, EA might pressure DICE to include a battle royale mode. If they do, Codename Eagle lends itself much better to having a “Battle Royale” mode.

With an alternate timeline, you can avoid historical issues, PR woes, and other developmental headaches.