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When Update #3 for Battlefield 2042 released earlier today, there were a few surprises included that shouldn't have been. DICE had mistakenly included the cosmetics that would be coming as rewards for the in-game weekly challenge system. DICE says that the weekly challenges will begin one week from today.
As they were included briefly after the patch dropped, you can be sure that people took plenty of screenshots for the upcoming skins before DICE pulled them from public view. What fans discovered are a series of skins that are very much at odds with the tone set forth in the game's pre-release media.
For instance, Boris looks like he will get a Santa skin named Father Winter. It will be unlocked for those that complete the "Preseason Week 3" challenges. Mackay will get a cowboy skin named Great Outdoors, a look that is already resulting in the community joking about how they should add a Buzz Lightyear skin to go along with Mackay's Woody look.
Skins for weapons and vehicles were also spotted. Some of them, such as the Dealmaker skin for the PP-29 and the Hostile Takeover G57 skin don't seem too bad. There is also the more ornate Deliverance skin for the MCS shotgun.
Unfortunately, the vehicle skins aren't quite as "grounded" as the weapon skins are. The Grin Reaper skin for the Super Hind seems alright. It doesn't seem to be Christmas themed, unlike the other vehicle skins. The Big Nic tank skin features a red and white camo scheme with reindeer silhouettes plastered on the sides. The Little Blitzen skin for the Nightbird helicopter is also Christmas themed with a splotchy red, white, and green camo scheme.
Fans have been busy voicing their disappointment on the Battlefield 2042 forums and on Reddit after seeing these skins. The skins, much like the attitudes of the Specialists, are just completely at odds with the messed-up world they're supposed to be fighting wars in. The mainline Battlefield titles, save for the intentionally comedic Bad Company games, have never been this at-odds with their own identities. The franchise has always been more on the "serious" side of things.
Fans have already started to compare these skins to the more outlandish skins released for the recent Call of Duty titles.
(Thanks to @BFBulletin for the images)
DICE / EA: We hear you.