There might not be another Star Wars: Battlefront sequel for quite some time, as developer DICE is shifting its focus toward other properties like Battlefield. EA’s reboot of the classic Star Wars: Battlefront was met with an icy reception when its first installment launched back in 2015, and 2017’s Star Wars: Battlefront II fared little better at first due to a massive controversy involving the game’s microtransactions and loot boxes. The backlash from Star Wars: Battlefront II’s perceived pay-to-win practices overshadowed virtually every other aspect of the game, and even sparked Congressional action regarding gambling-like mechanics in games aimed at younger audiences.
However, in the four years since Star Wars: Battlefront II’s divisive release, EA and DICE have made a considerable attempt to win back weary Star Wars fans with a plethora of free expansions, adding classic characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi to the mix and bringing back game modes like Instant Action that players sorely missed from the late Pandemic Studios' old Star Wars Battlefront series. Players have started to regard Star Wars: Battlefront II as a vastly improved experience, and a recent free giveaway on the Epic Game Store back in January not only crashed Epic's online servers a day into the event but also rose Star Wars: Battlefront II’s player base up to over 19 million. Unfortunately, this might not be enough to stop EA from waiting on a possible Star Wars: Battlefront III until the next Battlefield comes out.
VGC writer and gaming news analyst Tom Henderson recently shared some information on his Twitter page about what the development teams behind the upcoming Battlefield 2042 might be working on now that development is winding down. This includes Star Wars Battlefront II developer DICE, with Henderson claiming that the studio will be starting work on another Battlefield title rather than Star Wars: Battlefront III.
There have been rumors that EA has soured on the idea of another Star Wars: Battlefront game after the rocky launch of Star Wars: Battlefront II, and that the company is moving away from licensed titles in general. Indeed, EA recently confirmed that it has no new Star Wars game announcements planned for the rest of 2021, and Star Wars franchise owner Disney revealed that it would be ending its divisive deal with EA as the sole licensee for titles based on the iconic space opera earlier this year. This will result in a wave of Star Wars games from other publishers, such as Ubisoft’s upcoming open-world Star Wars title and, allegedly, an unrevealed project from Detroit: Become Human developer Quantic Dream.
Sadly, it doesn’t look like Star Wars: Battlefront III will be among the list of new Star Wars games on the horizon for fans, owing to a combination of DICE’s prior commitments to the Battlefield franchise and the controversial launch of the previous game. EA may decide to give Star Wars Battlefront another chance once the next Battlefield game is finished, but for right now it seems like DICE’s large-scale Star Wars shooter series has been put in Carbonite for the time being.
Source: Tom Henderson/Twitter