What Is the Future of ‘Star Wars Battlefront'?

Gizmodo

5 days ago

Days ago, gamers and Star Wars fans started voicing their desire for another Star Wars Battlefront game. DICE's Battlefront II from 2017 has received an extra surge of attention as of late; its player count is growing on PC, and the community aims to capitalize on the renewed popularity with a day-long global event to increase its numbers 'and showcase the enduring spirit of the Battlefront community.'
This has all been spurred by Star Wars' May 4 holiday and Andor star Muhannad Ben Amor (who played Wilmon) recently calling for another entry: 'Grew up with Battlefront II; been a veteran since day one, let's hope a Battlefront III happens.'
Over its almost 20-year life, the multiplayer shooter series has had two lives. Its first two games were released during the Star Wars prequel era and made by the late Pandemic Studios, while the second, more recent pair come from Battlefield developer DICE. Neither have made it to number three, but one version nearly happened; a Battlefront III for the original series was in development from several developers, including Timesplitters creator Free Radical Design. Before EA took hold of the Star Wars game license, LucasArts tried restarting the games with an online-only entry, a smaller scale multiplayer entry, and a fourth game set in an alternate reality where Obi-Wan and Luke were Sith Lords, but nothing came of these efforts, and the Battlefront sub-series is once again MIA.
The questions of whether Star Wars Battlefront can come back—and why it should be brought back—are closely linked, and tricky to answer. Making games for this property has occasionally been a tough ask throughout the years. Some of the most famous Star Wars games are the ones that never happened, like the Boba Fett-starring 1313 or third entries for Knights of the Old Republic and Force Unleashed, two sub-series that existed alongside Battlefront. Even EA's had its troubles; it canceled a pirate-focused project from Visceral Games and Motive Studios, and more recently killed a first-person shooter centered on a Mandalorian that was in the works over at Respawn, creators of the acclaimed Star Wars Jedi games.
DICE is currently focused entirely on the next Battlefield game and several other EA studios are on hand as support, meaning another Battlefront couldn't reasonably come from EA, let alone any time soon. Mats Holm, a former live producer on Battlefront II, recently said as such on Reddit, instead suggesting a remaster of the previous game as a primer before developing a proper sequel, preferably with anyone from the previous team who wanted to work on it. Said remaster would be the best potential 'in,' but the problem there lies with EA: while the Pandemic-made Battlefront games have been remastered, Electronic Arts can be more selective than other publishers with what it chooses to remaster or remake.
Since 2019's Fallen Order, Star Wars has kept its video game eye mostly focused on single-player titles, including Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws and 2026's Zero Company from Bit Reactor. Other than the space combat-focused Star Wars Squadrons, EA's yet to recommit to Star Wars multiplayer, possibly because the controversy around Battlefront II's initial monetization was so disastrous and heavily criticized, it's the reason why the publisher's no longer the only one that can create licensed games for the franchise. And then there's Fortnite: thanks to the recent 'Galactic Battle' tie-in event, numerous in-game skins for several franchise characters, and the plot-important audio log that reveals Palpatine somehow returned for Rise of Skywalker, Epic Games' battle royale has become the most important multiplayer shooter the franchise could have.
Both previous incarnations of Star Wars Battlefront existed at a time where they could be the only place where all of the franchise could exist. Battlefront II was already marketed as a unification point for all three trilogies, and as part of the game's rehabilitation efforts, DICE poured everything it had and then some into post-launch updates that incorporated maps, weapons, and characters from the sequels and prequels, Rogue One, and Solo. In the time since DICE ended support for the game in 2019, Star Wars hasn't just found itself linked to Fortnite, it's also not made consistent momentum that would help justify a real Battlefront III happening.
Come 2026, The Mandalorian & Grogu will likely get a Fortnite tie-in of some kind, as will the Disney+ series Maul: Shadow Lord and the 2027 Starfighter film. Like Andor's Lonni Jung, Star Wars has become trapped in the web of Epic Games, and it's doubtful Disney will cease that partnership anytime soon.
Hope for a Star Wars Battlefront III could never truly die, no matter how much the odds are stacked against. But as Star Wars enters a new phase of its life that promises more movies and shows, and hopes to explore a time during and after the sequels, one has to wonder how it would fit into the franchise's designs, and who will be around for it at a time when online games, regardless of their size, are quick to be cast aside.