Battlefield: Hardline Cover Art and Trailer Stir Controversy

Following recent events in the American media, many gamers feel up in arms about the box art and trailers for Battlefield: Hardline. While the game may have been in development long before recent events, many players feel that the box art may be a bit insensitive. Personally, I don't believe that DICE – who develops the game – has any bad intentions with the box art or the game itself, but I can definitely see why people would be worried.

The box art does depict an African-American male pointing a gun at what appear to be cop cars. This could just be coincidence, and it really shouldn't be a race issue, but maybe DICE could have done a better job of picking a box art here. All that said, I don't think there's any way DICE could have released a game about cops and have it not be controversial.

Another trailer brings more controversy to the table, as it depicts various cops and SWAT teams engaging in combat with the citizens of Miami. Furthermore, it shows a cop slamming a suspect's head against a box, threatening to take him in for drug possession. To make matters worse, there's also a Caucasion male looking real badass at the end of the trailer. This stands as another example of how simply choosing more appropriate images would have avoided controversy altogether.

That said, there's also the other side of the argument that dicatates people are simply too sensitive. Maybe they're right? I don't know, but here's to hoping this doesn't damage Hardline's release.