Female soldiers coming to Battlefield 1

Controversy, EA and DICE will be adding female soldiers to Battlefield 1 with the In the Name of the Tsar expansion. Confirmed in a tweet Russian Army’s scout class would be represented by members of the 1st Russian Women’s Battalion of Death.

The Women’s Battalion was initially formed as a propaganda initiative to raise morale. They were commanded by Maria Leontievna Bochkareva and fought most prominently during the Kerensky Offensive, Russia’s final offensive campaign of the Great War. The first footage of the expansion will be shown at EA Play on June 10th, and it will be available on PS4, Xbox One and PC upon release.
 

 
In a tweet yesterday, the official Battlefield Twitter account confirmed that the Russian Army’s scout class would be represented by members of the 1st Russian Women’s Battalion of Death. The Women’s Battalion was initially formed as a propaganda initiative to raise morale. They were commanded by Maria Leontievna Bochkareva and fought most prominently during the Kerensky Offensive, Russia’s final offensive campaign of the Great War.

With an estimated 6,000 Russian women combatants in World War One, their addition to the multiplayer campaign makes sense in spite of commenters who object to their historical immersion being broken. “[You’re] kidding me,” one Twitter poster said. Having never read a history book, they added: “Barely any women fought.” Adding women soldiers fits with Battlefield 1’s tone, which included a single player campaign featuring African American soldiers from the Harlem Hellfighters infantry regiment, a woman Bedouin protagonist, and soldiers from various fronts across the world. The first DLC, The Shall Not Pass, added the French Army. EA promised to share more detail about the expansion at the upcoming EA Play event, running from June 10-12 in Hollywood. I’ll be attendance at this event and will tell just how awesome it feels to storm the trenches as a tough gal then.