World War III is underway and the liberal world order is officially over. NATO members have defected from America’s national security sphere in favor of outsourcing their warfighting to the mysterious "Pax Armata" ("Armed Peace"). This is not our reality…yet? Game enthusiasts have long awaited the newest release of Battlefield 6 set in the near future. The game's sales have shattered record revenues thus far. A former CEO from Battlefield’s competitor and higher grossing game franchise, Call of Duty, recently said his former title will suffer to Battlefield's success. It will likely gross tens, if not, hundreds of millions of dollars for the publicly traded company Electronic Arts, now purchased by Saudi Arabia just before the game’s release. Why should we care about a video game depicting a fictional intra-civilizational war? In short, because millions are going to spend countless hours on Battlefield 6, a far greater amount of time on this medium of entertainment than television, film, and social media, combined. Therefore, the themes of war expressed are necessary to discuss as it will probably shape public opinion for years to come.

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Yet of course, it is necessary to qualify that in most video games, mechanical design and player retention almost always upstage adherence to real simulation. Especially considering features at the tactical level, such as a playable medic with a defibrillator who can instantly resuscitate a comrade hit by a tank projectile at near point-blank range. Also immortalized by Battlefield fans, a pilot ejecting from his fighter jet, then firing a rocket propelled grenade at an enemy jet to destroy it, and free fall back safely back into his aircraft. Therefore, when speculating on the reasons for why NATO may fight a conventional war against a private military contractor (or "PMC") organization in Western (or Eurasian) countries, we can only truly compare the fictional themes to modern geopolitical narratives.

In Battlefield 6's signature multiplayer mode, more than 30 players on each side fight for either American led NATO or European Pax Armata displaying the horrors of a modern conventional war fought on........

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