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EA has apologised after it transpired that it inadvertently named one of its new Elite skins for shooter Battlefield V for a German solider after a real life anti-fascist resistance solider in WW2.
The Wilhem Franke skin went on sale last week in the Battlefield store as one of their 'Elite' units, and was promoted by EA as an Axis solider who is 'A ruthless combatant, his straight-forward manner commands respect from his squadmates, even if they have to maintain a safe distance. Bold, unflinching, seizing the initiative, Franke sets out to fulfill every mission requirement to the letter.'
However, Dom Schott pointed out on Archaeo Games that Wilhem Franke was actually the name of a real life WW2 anti-facist resistance soldier who operated out of Dresden, before being arrested by the Gestapo in 1944.
In a statement provided to Vice, EA apologised for the mistake and has promised to change the name of the character, saying 'We’ve become aware that one of the names of our Elites, Wilhelm Franke, shares the name of a real life resistance member in Germany during the Second World War. We want to apologize as we certainly didn’t mean any disrespect to him. We are in the process now of changing the name of our Elite in the game.'
However, EA also continued the statement by trying to distance the character from a Nazi affliation, saying 'The aforementioned Elite, Wilhelm Franke, whose name we’re changing is not a Nazi, but a German solider similar to ones we already have in the game. In Battlefield V, we’re not making any political statements in relation to the real life events of WW2 and there are no swastikas in the game.'
