Battlefield 2042's much-maligned Santa Claus Specialist skin has been axed for the time being, DICE has confirmed.
Late last night, a substantial leak revealed a ton of holiday-themed content planned for the recently released shooter. Among the various cosmetic rewards were a "Big Nick" tank skin, a "Little Blitzen" helicopter skin, and a "Father Winter" skin that basically let you don a Santa outfit and run around shooting people. Very festive.
Predictably, the response to this Christmas content was not overwhelmingly positive. Many fans pointed to Battlefield 2042's troubled launch and ongoing issues, and argued that fixing the game should be the priority before shoving in special seasonal cosmetics.
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Others simply don't like the fact that Battlefield 2042, which has billed itself as a serious game with a heavy focus on realism, is already introducing characters like Santa Claus.
"DICE expects me to be able to take the game seriously with literal Santa Claus running around shooting people in what's supposed to be a world where billions are displaced, natural disasters are destroying the planet, and there's about to be a massive world proxy war," One Reddit commenter wrote. "And we're supposed to take all that into account with Santa f*cking Claus running around on the battlefield."
"I love where they put their priority, cosmetics and not the actual game," added a Twitter user. "This game is bad and getting worse."
Fortunately, it looks as if DICE agrees that its focus should be elsewhere right now. In a recently shared update, the developer confirmed that these skins were designed months before launch. It's realised that, in light of everything that's happened with the launch, now is not the time to release them.
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"Development for Live Service requires us to work months in advance, and enables us to have options when we reach key moments in our first year," DICE explained. "Today, we have other priorities, and so whilst we have the skins, we presently have no plans to utilize all of them this holiday.
Featured Image Credit: EATopics: Battlefield 2042, Dice
