Battlefield 2042 has pulled its most recent weekly reward, a smiling cosmetic for a Russian helicopter, shortly after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
Completion of the mission gave players a smiling skin, dubbed “The Grin Reaper,” for the game’s take on a real-life Russian attack helicopter. The skin re-skinned the Mi-240 Super Hind attack helicopter with a sharp-toothed smile on the front. Less than 48 hours after the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, Battlefield 2042 made a public announcement that the weekly mission has been removed in its entirety.
“In light of current events, we have disabled the Weekly Missions system for this week, and this weeks reward is no longer available to unlock,” the Battlefield Direct Communication Twitter account wrote. The tweet went on to say that players who had already unlocked the skin won’t be affected. Weekly missions are set to return to Battlefield 2042 next week.
DICE’s decision was met with a mixed reaction from fans. In the reply threads, many Battlefield 2042 players were critical of the developer’s decision to remove the weekly mission altogether.
This is not the first time the Battlefield devs have had to adjust an in-game item due to Russia’s encroachment on Ukraine, either. DICE dealt with community criticisms for its Little Green Man skin, which resembled unmarked Russian uniforms worn during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict. Both DICE and EA apologized for the event and re-named the skin to Gator.
