It really shouldn’t be that hard to do. You take Star Wars, perhaps the biggest pop-culture phenomenon to ever exist, and blend it with the Battlefield series' chaotic, 64-player skirmishes, and voilà, you have Star Wars: Battlefront – a video game concept so great it should sell itself.
Yet somehow, the Battlefront series has never been in a worse place. The original games are still great gameplay-wise but graphically they’ve started to show their age, and the recent Star Wars Battlefront: Classic Collection’s disastrous launch has left a bitter taste in fans’ mouths. DICE’s lacklustre attempt at a reboot back in 2015 was bland and forgettable, and while the sequel in 2017 improved upon it in nearly every way, it was cursed from the get-go with malicious and greedy micro-transactions which have forever tarnished the reputation of what is a genuinely great game.
Right now, it’s feeling like a new Battlefront game is never going to happen, or at least, won't be happening in the foreseeable future. Here’s why that’s a bad idea, and why we need a new Star Wars: Battlefront game ASAP.
The appeal of the Star Wars: Battlefront games stemmed from the same elements that made the animated Clone Wars series so captivating – they give you an idea of what it’s like to be someone small and unimportant in the Star Wars universe. Sure, sometimes you’ll get the chance to play as iconic characters such as Han Solo or Maul, but for the majority of the time, you'll be in the shoes of nameless clones or rebels, fighting in gigantic battles where you feel like a small cog in a very large machine.
Playing the role of a humble Stormtrooper or B1 Battle Droid is a major change from, say, playing as Cal Kestis in the Star Wars Jedi games. You have no Force abilities, just a blaster, a couple of thermal detonators, and whatever gear your class comes equipped with. You have no plot MacGuffin to chase or ancient Jedi/Sith conspiracy to solve; your objective is simple: blast as many enemies as you can before they blast you, then rinse and repeat. There are objectives to capture and defend, but these are just a reason to force players into a tighter combat zone.
This gameplay loop arguably reached its peak in 2005 with Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and again in 2017 with Star Wars Battlefront 2. It can get a bit complex when discussing both sequels, so I’ll simply refer to them as Battlefront 2 (2005) and Battlefront 2 (2017).
The former is now considered a classic, and there is a generation of people – myself included – who grew up with it and feel nostalgic fondness for it. The latter, DICE’s sequel to their 2015 reboot, was controversial upon its initial release. The aforementioned microtransactions have somewhat become part of gaming history for their perceived unfairness, to the extent that EA eventually yielded and removed them from the game entirely.
Those early days in which you could purchase loot boxes that’d give you an undeniably unfair advantage – and don’t forget a “sense of pride and accomplishment” - ruined the game for many people. It’s a massive shame because to give DICE credit, Battlefront 2 (2017) turned itself around in a major way. Yes, they removed the scummy microtransactions, but they also released multiple content updates, bringing in new characters and maps – the most substantial of these being The Clone Wars update.
At the end of the game’s life in 2020, EA ceased support for Battlefront 2 and moved DICE onto Battlefield 2042. Battlefront 2, however, had been left in a really good place, with tight gameplay, lots of maps, and a small dedicated fanbase. There are still players enjoying Battlefront 2 (2017), but it’s getting harder to find full lobbies, especially in the early hours of the morning. It seems likely that the player base will soon fizzle out, and the game will be left to rot.
This is why we need a new Battlefront game, preferably sooner rather than later. The franchise is once again building momentum after the disappointing Rise of Skywalker in 2019, with streaming series’ like The Mandalorian and Andor being well-received by the fans.
Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi has proved to be a decent Soulslike game, and the High Republic multimedia project has given us a whole new era to sink our teeth into. Now is the perfect time to release a big-budget, AAA, Star Wars Battlefront game.
Is there a developer who’d want to take on such a momentous task? Pandemic, developers of the original games closed down in 2009, and it seems unlikely that Disney will let DICE have a third attempt at it – even though I think DICE does have what it takes when they’re allowed to do their own thing.
Ripple Effect Studios (what used to be known as DICE LA) is currently developing the next Battlefield game under the guidance of Respawn Entertainment’s Vince Zampella; Zampella and Respawn would be the perfect choice to develop a new Battlefront game. They’ve proven they’ve got what it takes to make a solid multiplayer FPS with Titanfall and Apex Legends and have also shown to have a good understanding of what makes a good Star Wars game.
But who says it has to be an EA-owned studio that develops it? The IP is no longer locked into a deal with them, so why not let someone else have a shot at it?
Bungie or 343 Studios could have a decent crack at it, though they both seem busy with Destiny and Halo. Or how about id Software? They’ve got a proven track record of making fantastic FPSs. Or Insomniac games? The quality of their Spider-Man games proves that they’ve got what it takes to take an established IP and turn out a great product.
Whoever it is that takes over the Star Wars Battlefront reigns, I hope they do it quickly, and remember what made the games so good in the first place.
For more Star Wars Battlefront, click here to read more about the disastrous Classic Collection and its apparent use of stolen content.