Mere hours before the reveal of the next Battlefield game by DICE and EA, an image was leaked onto the internet that may be depicting the box art for the next title.
The image was first leaked by several users who noticed the image posted above on their Xbox One dashboards, announcing that a trailer is coming later today. Some folks on Reddit have also snapped photos of the picture in question on the dashboard as well.
The image itself strongly suggests the game will take place in World War I. Some of the major context clues are the weaponry and background, notably a trench club and mauser pistol that the soldier on the cover is brandishing. The background also has the shape of what may be a zeppelin as well, flying in the sky.
Members of EA were upset about the leak jumping the gun. Specifically, Daniel Lingen, Community Manager of the EA games label, tweeted about Microsoft leaking their key art hours before a video reveal of the game. Lingen has since deleted his tweet, but ICXM caught a photo of it before deletion, but his comments all but confirm the image is not only legitimate but also in step with the current speculation of the game being set in World War 1. However, while Lingen's tweet was deleted as mentioned above and screenshots are not always accurate, corroborating this further is the fact that Bryan Coffee's tweet remains up.
https://twitter.com/XboxMAD/status/728611570205364224
Some more information leaked was a possible title name and a release date. The title may be called Battlefield 1, based on a leak that stems from Imgur, which showcases the central art asset with the title on what looks like a flier or advertisement kit of some kind from Gamestop. That same sort of advertising kit also shows off a release date, October 18th, and pre-order bonus for the game titled, Hellfighter Pack, which adds several themed items inspired by the historic Harlem Hellfighters regiment in World War I.
It should be noted that the cover art does depict what appears to be an African-American soldier, which may be another context clue in of itself, as the soldier can represent one of the Harlem Hellfighters mentioned in the pre-order bonus. That, however, is only speculation, and not confirmed at this time.
If the full extent of the leak is true, Battlefield 1 game will be one of the first AAA FPS titles to take place in World War I, which is a theater that is rarely seen in the FPS market, save for the Steam title Verdun. It is also a stark contrast to Activision's Call of Duty franchise, who announced their latest Call of Duty game, Infinite Warfare, will take place in the far future.
In a few hours, EA and DICE will showcase a debut trailer for the new Battlefield game. We will keep you up-to-date on this developing story.
So what are your thoughts on the whole thing? Looking forward to more Battlefield? How about the setting? Leave your comments below.
