Battlefield 1 is a 2016 first-person shooter game created by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It is the fifteenth game in the Battlefield series. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox One in October 2016.

Battlefield 1 is different from earlier games in the series because it is set during World War I. Its single-player mode, called War Stories, shows the experiences of soldiers in different parts of the war, such as the Western Front, the Italian Front, Gallipoli, and Arabia. The game also includes multiplayer gameplay with big battles on the ground and exciting air battles.

Critics gave Battlefield 1 positive reviews, saying it was better than previous games like Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline. Praise focused on its World War I setting, single-player stories, and multiplayer features. The game sold more than 15 million copies and was followed by Battlefield V in 2018.

Gameplay

Battlefield 1 is a first-person shooter game that focuses on teamwork. It is set during World War I and is based on real historical events. Players can use weapons from World War I, such as bolt-action rifles, submachine guns, automatic and semi-automatic rifles, artillery, flamethrowers, and poison gas to fight opponents. Melee combat was changed, with new weapons like sabers, trench clubs, and shovels added. These weapons are grouped into three categories: heavy, medium, and light. Players can also control armored vehicles, including light tanks, landships, heavy tanks, armored cars, torpedo boats, bi- and tri-plane aircraft, armored trains, reconnaissance vehicles, dreadnoughts, M-class zeppelins, and ride horses in battle. Features like destructible environments and weapon customization, which were in earlier games, return in Battlefield 1 and are more dynamic.

Daniel Berlin, the game’s world designer, said the campaign mode has larger and more open environments than previous games. Players have more choices in how they complete levels and approach combat. Players can control several characters in the campaign. If a player dies in the prologue, they will take control of another soldier and role instead of restarting from a checkpoint. These roles can include a tank gunner or rifleman. Unlike earlier games, Battlefield 1 includes a collection of war stories, similar to an anthology.

The multiplayer mode supports up to 64 players. A new squad system allows players to join and leave game servers together. Playing without joining a squad makes the game much harder. Multiplayer maps are based on different parts of World War I, such as the Middle East, the Western Front, Gallipoli, and the Alps. Later expansions added maps from the Eastern Front, Russian Civil War, and naval battles in the North Sea. The game launched with nine maps and six multiplayer modes, including Conquest, Domination, Operations, Rush, Team Deathmatch, and War Pigeons, where players must secure war pigeons to call artillery strikes.

Battlefield 1’s multiplayer mode includes game types from previous games and new modes:

• Conquest: Teams capture objectives across the map, earning points based on objectives held and eliminations. If a team is far behind in points, they can use a special vehicle like a zeppelin, armored train, or dreadnought.
• Conquest Assault: Similar to Conquest, but one team starts with all objectives captured, and the other must take them to win.
• Domination: A smaller version of Conquest with only three control points and no vehicles.
• Rush: A team attacks to plant bombs in two telegraph stations, while the defending team tries to stop them. If the attackers succeed, they get more respawns. The defending team wins if the attackers run out of respawns. Telegraph stations can also be used to call artillery fire.
• Operations: A new mode where teams simulate a campaign across multiple maps. The attacking team must capture control points across sectors. If they run out of respawns, they lose a battalion and must try again. If they complete all maps, they win. If the defending team stops the attackers, they get a special vehicle.
• Team Deathmatch: Teams compete to reach a target number of kills.
• War Pigeons: A new mode where teams capture messenger pigeons to signal artillery fire. The first team to release three pigeons wins.
• Frontlines: A new mode where teams capture control points along a path. If a team reaches the enemy’s base, they must destroy two telegraph stations to win.
• Supply Drop: A mode where teams fight over supply drops that provide resources like ammo, health, and vehicles. The team with more points wins.
• Air Assault: A mode focused on aerial combat with dogfights between planes and a zeppelin.
• Shock Operations: A faster version of Operations with 40 players per server and only five maps.
• Back to Basic: A mode where players can only use standard-issue rifles and cannot use vehicles or elite kits.

Battlefield 1’s multiplayer features four main classes, three spawn-based vehicle classes, and five pickup-based elite classes:

• Assault: A class focused on close combat and anti-vehicle tasks. Players use submachine guns, machine pistols, and shotguns.

Campaigns

Battlefield 1's single-player story mode includes six different "War Stories." Each story is told from the perspective of a different Allied soldier. The stories are:

• "Storm of Steel" – The beginning of the game, set in the Western Front. It shows the experiences of American soldiers from the Harlem Hellfighters.
• "Through Mud and Blood" – Set in the Battle of Cambrai. It follows a British tank driver.
• "Friends in High Places" – Set in France and the UK. It shows the perspective of a Royal Flying Corps pilot.
• "Avanti Savoia" – Set in the Italian Alps. It follows a survivor from the Arditi, an Italian military group.
• "The Runner" – Set on the Gallipoli Peninsula, part of the Ottoman Empire. It shows the perspective of an ANZAC runner.
• "Nothing is Written" – Set in the Arabian Desert. It follows a Bedouin warrior who fights under Lawrence of Arabia.

The prologue takes place in 1918 during the Second Battle of the Marne in France. Players control members of the Harlem Hellfighters as they defend their positions against German soldiers. The player starts near the front line and must survive attacks from German forces. If the player survives, an artillery attack hits the battlefield, and the perspective shifts to a soldier manning a Vickers machine gun. The soldier must abandon the weapon to protect a nearby church after an airship attacks. An unnamed narrator, one of the Hellfighters, comments on the war as soldiers are killed.

The Hellfighters lose ground to the Germans but are helped by British tanks, which force the Germans to retreat. The Hellfighters then counterattack but face heavy losses. When the player switches to the final soldier, a German soldier tries to attack the player with a shovel. An artillery barrage stops the attack and knocks out all combatants, leaving the player unconscious. When the player wakes up, they find a German survivor. Both soldiers lower their weapons, realizing the war has no clear winner. The game then transitions to the next War Story.

Set in the autumn of 1918 during the Battle of Cambrai, players control Daniel Edwards, a British tank driver. Edwards is assigned to a tank called "Black Bess" and works with his crew: Townsend, the commander; McManus, a skeptical gunner; Pritchard, another gunner; and Finch, the mechanic. The crew must reach the French town of Cambrai to capture strategic positions and destroy German artillery. Finch is killed early in the mission while repairing the tank. Later, the tank gets stuck in mud and surrounded by German soldiers. Townsend decides to call for artillery help using a messenger pigeon, but McManus objects. Pritchard is killed while trying to release the pigeon, forcing Edwards to do so. This allows British artillery to save the tank.

Edwards scouts ahead through fog in Bourlon Wood and helps the crew navigate the forest. The tank faces mechanical problems, and Townsend sends Edwards and McManus to retrieve spark plugs from captured German tanks. McManus refuses at first but later returns to help Edwards. After repairs, the crew attacks a railway station to trick the Germans into thinking a large British attack is coming. The tank reaches Cambrai but is destroyed by artillery and German soldiers. Edwards and McManus survive, and subtitles note that over 300 tanks were used in the Battle of Cambrai, which ended a month later.

Some people have criticized this mission for not being historically accurate. The Canadian 2nd Division was actually involved in the Battle of Cambrai.

In another story set in the spring of 1917 during the Battle of Arras, players control Clyde Blackburn, an American pilot who lies often. Blackburn cheats a British pilot named George Rackham in a card game and steals his plane. He pretends to be Rackham and introduces himself to Rackham's gunner, Wilson. The two fly together and discover a German munitions base. Blackburn convinces Wilson to report the base to British Command in exchange for medals.

Blackburn and Wilson escort bombers to destroy the base. They crash behind enemy lines and are separated. Blackburn finds Wilson injured and decides not to leave him behind after Wilson reveals he knew Blackburn's true identity. Blackburn carries Wilson to safety but is arrested by British authorities. On the way to a trial in London, their ship is attacked by German planes. Blackburn and Wilson fight off the attackers, destroy German aircraft, and crash into a German airship. They escape into the River Thames and survive. Blackburn reflects on the war, noting that people may have different stories about his actions.

Taking place in the autumn of 1918 on the Italian front in the Dolomites, players control Luca Vincenzo.

Development

According to game designer Daniel Berlin, the team chose World War I as the game's setting because they believed the weapons and gadgets from that time would work well for players with different ways of playing. The game was named Battlefield 1 because the team considered World War I as "the beginning of large-scale warfare." Melee weapons were changed to add more depth to the gameplay system. Creative director Lars Gustavsson said the idea of using World War I as the setting had been a long-term concept and a dream for the team. Berlin said gameplay was the most important part of the game's development, and he promised the game would not be slowed down by its historical setting. The story is told through the experiences of many different characters and highlights the stories of unknown war heroes.

Patrick Söderlund, an executive at Electronic Arts who oversaw DICE, first thought a World War One shooter would not be fun to play. However, he agreed after seeing a demo made by DICE. Aleksander Grøndal, a senior producer at DICE, studied the war by looking at visual references. He preferred colored images of the war to help visualize what soldiers experienced. Grøndal said, "I wanted to see the pictures and imagine how they would look through a modern camera lens." He wanted to use footage from the past and give it a modern feel. Grøndal especially liked Apocalypse: World War I, a 2014 French documentary that uses colorized images, and World War I in Colour, a 2004 book of colorized wartime photographs. He believed colored images made the war feel more real. Even though he preferred colored visuals, Grøndal said his biggest inspiration was Blueprint for Armageddon, a six-part audio documentary by Dan Carlin from the Hardcore History podcast.

In June 2015, DICE announced they were working on an unannounced game. In January 2016, EA said Titanfall 2, Mass Effect: Andromeda, and an unannounced Battlefield game would be released before the end of the company's fiscal year. Before the official announcement on May 6, 2016, details about the game's name, release date, and story were leaked. The game was officially revealed that day through a livestream on Twitch, showing a trailer with a remix of The White Stripes' song "Seven Nation Army" by The Glitch Mob. The Collector's Edition includes items like a statue of a Harlem Hellfighter, a code for exclusive downloadable content (DLC) for the Doughboy M1911 Pistol, and a Steelbook case. Pre-order bonuses include early access to a DLC map called Giant's Shadow, which is set during the Battle of the Selle, and the Harlem Hellfighter Pack. The Heroes Bundle includes these pre-order bonuses, plus three days of early access to the game, the Red Baron Pack, the Lawrence of Arabia Pack, and five Battlepacks. Battlefield 1 was released worldwide on October 21, 2016, for PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox One.

The open beta for Battlefield 1 started on August 31, 2016, for PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox One. It ended on September 8, 2016. The beta allowed the team to fix major technical problems before the game's official launch. More than 13.2 million players participated in the beta.

Downloadable content

DICE created four downloadable content (DLC) expansions for Battlefield 1: They Shall Not Pass, In the Name of the Tsar, Turning Tides, and Apocalypse.

In December 2016, DICE announced the first major expansion, They Shall Not Pass, which was released on March 14, 2017. Premium members had exclusive access to the expansion for two weeks. This DLC introduces the French Army as a new playable faction. It includes four maps set during the Battle of Verdun and the Second Battle of the Marne: Fort de Vaux, Soissons, Rupture, and Verdun Heights. The expansion adds new weapons, vehicles, and a new "Trench Raider" elite class focused on close combat. Two additional maps, Nivelle Nights and Prise de Tahure, were added later in 2017. As of May 5, 2018, "They Shall Not Pass" became free for all players on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation platforms, remaining free until May 15 as part of The Road to Battlefield V.

In April 2017, DICE shared the first images of the In the Name of the Tsar DLC. This expansion was confirmed during EA Play 2017, with a short video preview shown. It focuses on the Russian Empire during World War I. The Russian faction’s Scout class includes a female soldier representing the Women’s Battalion. Four maps are set on the Eastern Front: Lupkow Pass, Galicia, Brusilov Keep, and Albion. Two other maps, Tsaritsyn and Volga River, are set during the Russian Civil War between the White Guard and Red Army. The DLC adds 11 new infantry weapons, vehicles, and a new horseback weapon called the Cavalry Lance. It was released on September 5, 2017, for Premium Pass members, with a worldwide release two weeks later. The cover art features Vendela Lindblom, who was the Playmate of the Month in January 2019.

The Turning Tides DLC focuses on naval and amphibious combat during World War I. Premium members received the first part of the DLC on December 11, 2017, which included two maps from the Gallipoli Campaign: Achi Baba and Cape Helles. This expansion adds six new infantry weapons and a new "Infiltrator" elite class with tools like a heliograph beacon, signal flare gun, and Martini-Henry Grenade Launcher. It also reintroduces the Conquest Assault game mode and adds the L-Class Destroyer as a new naval vehicle. The second part, Turning Tides: North Sea, was released on January 30, 2018. It added two new maps—Heligoland Bight and Zeebrugge—and introduced the Royal Marines as a new faction. The North Sea release also included the C-Class Airship as a new air vehicle.

The final DLC, Apocalypse, highlights some of the most intense battles of World War I. Released on February 20, 2018, it includes five maps, six new weapons, and a new game mode. Three infantry-based maps—Caporetto (in present-day Slovenia), Passchendaele (in Belgium), and River Somme (in France)—reflect real battles. Two other maps, Razor’s Edge (in the Alps) and London Calling (over London), are designed for the new "Air Assault" game mode, which focuses on air combat with planes and zeppelins. These maps are not based on real battles. Apocalypse does not add new factions but introduces new weapons, vehicles, and infantry tools. It includes the Livens Projector/Gaswurfminen, a stationary weapon found on the infantry maps, and two new air vehicles: the Airco DH.10 Amiens and the Hansa-Brandenburg G.I.

Reception

The game was well-received by the public after its official announcement. By May 9, 2016, the Battlefield 1 reveal trailer had become the most liked video on YouTube, with more than 2 million likes. Electronic Arts expected the game to sell at least 14 million copies in its first year of release. Julie Muncy, writing for Wired, was concerned that the game might not accurately show the complicated situations of World War I and believed the war might not be a good setting for a video game. In contrast, Zam's Robert Rath noted that World War I was often overlooked in popular culture because it did not inspire much interest, and he believed Battlefield 1 could help bring attention back to the war. Alex Hern, writing for The Guardian, criticized those who questioned the game's portrayal of WWI, stating: "Asking whether the First World War is a suitable topic for a first-person shooter may reveal a more important question: why do we think any war is?"

Battlefield 1 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the website Metacritic, which collects reviews. Reviewers praised the game's unique setting and the bold choice by DICE to create a World War I-themed game. The multiplayer part was praised for its strong gameplay, the new game mode called Operations, the music, and the maps. While International Business Times praised the single-player story and level design, they also said the campaign was too short. PC World also noted that all six campaigns were told from the perspective of the Allied Powers, with no story from the Central Powers.

Battlefield 1 was the best-selling retail game in the UK during its first week of release. Its sales in the first week were higher than the combined sales of Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline. The PlayStation 4 version of the game sold 113,083 copies in Japan during its first week. By January 18, 2017, the PlayStation 4 version had sold 249,053 copies in Japan. Battlefield 1 was the top-selling game in the US during the month of its release. As of April 2018, it is estimated that more than 15 million copies of the game had been sold worldwide.