The LMG 08/18 machine gun just got a fun little Easter egg reload animation — and it’s all thanks to a little joke video from Twitter user Flakfiregaming. Look, things happened; a guy made a funny video, an EA DICE animator saw it, and now there’s an Easter egg in Battlefield 1. Specifically, there is a reload animation Easter egg in the Apocalypse DLC pack for Battlefield 1, which is the final DLC out of four planned expansion packs for the WW1 shooter.
That’s a lot to unpack, and it’s what makes this very (and we may very) simple Easter egg so interesting. The fast turnaround from unofficial joke to official Easter egg is probably a result of our current Social Media age of discourse, but I’m not going to complain — everyone loves Easter eggs. And to add to the fun, I’m going to list lots of alternative reload animation Easter eggs that exist in Battlefield 1. Oh, and there’s video too. So you can check it out.
LMG 08/18 Reload Animation Easter Egg
Let’s break down the Easter egg real quick before getting into the history. The (relatively) new weapon, the LMG 08/18 will play a little Jack-in-the-Box wind-up jingle if you reload with 13 bullets left.
The LMG 08/18 is an awesome weapon. It is, essentially, a lighter version of the MG 08. It’s air-cooled, making it man-portable, and uses a reloadable magazine that the player hand-cranks like a Jack-in-the-Box to rewind the ammo belt. Hence this Easter egg. Here’s a video showing off the Easter egg.
The IMG 08/18 comes in two variations — Low Weight (100 rounds) and Suppressive (200 rounds) — it’s pretty unlikely anyone would stop to reload on 13 rounds exactly, but that’s what makes this Easter egg special. A jaunty tune on command. It comes included in the Apocalypse expansion.
So, what about the history? The joke originally came from a short video posted by Flakfire, a “#DICEfriend” and Battlefield 1 connoisseur. Then it became real — as confirmed by Ryan Duffin, an animator working for EA DICE Los Angeles.
Even More Animation Easter Eggs
Now to the part I promised earlier — there are lots of animation Easter eggs in Battlefield 1. Here’s a few of our faves.