We’re only halfway through the year, but it’s already been a marquee moment for Star Wars fans. The 20th-anniversary re-release of Star Wars Episode 3 allowed millions to relive the tragic fall of Anakin in theaters (becoming the highest-grossing theatrical redux of all time in the process). The best Star Wars television show ever came to a satisfying conclusion. Even Star Wars Outlaws is hitting its stride thanks to a new expansion and gameplay updates.
But the year’s most interesting Star Wars-related story isn’t any of these, but one no one could have seen coming. Eight years after its controversial launch and Darth Vader-esque redemption, Star Wars Battlefront II is becoming one of gaming’s most popular multiplayer games and ground zero for a fan campaign to bring the legendary multiplayer shooter back from the dead.
Star Wars Battlefront II has surged in popularity across all platforms. On Steam, the game reached nearly 19,000 concurrently players over the holiday weekend, the highest it has been since releasing on the platform in 2020. The game has also shot up the sales charts on PlayStation and Xbox digital storefronts. It’s an unusual resurgence for an older game like this, one fueled by fans reevaluating how fun DICE’s shooter is, general cultural hype around the Star Wars saga following May The 4th, and the desperate hope that a sequel is still possible.
For the uninitiated, Star Wars Battlefront II is the second game in the Swedish developer’s 2015 reboot of the series. The game allows players to get into epic 64-player battles across all eras of Star Wars, reliving the pivotal moments from the films or creating brand-new ones. Like the original PlayStation 2 era Pandemic Studios-developed games, Star Wars Battlefront II is a Star Wars fan's dream come true. It’s also one of the most graphically impressive video games ever, even nearly a decade after release.
While the game itself was the best the series had ever been, the game launched in controversial fashion. EA’s rampant use of microtransactions spurred dissent among players and even alarm at Disney. While those microtransactions were rolled back, it wasn’t until the game was relaunched alongside the final movie in the main saga that things turned around. The 2019 Celebration Edition was a re-release that included the majority of the game’s unlocks, DLC, cosmetics, and more, making it the definitive Star Wars multiplayer experience.
The game enjoyed some popularity initially, but the player base waned in more recent years. DICE stopped rolling out big updates three years ago, moving on to other titles like Battlefield 2042. As recent as last month, hackers have set up shop in the game’s servers, the only time DICE has checked back into the game.
So what exactly kicked off Battlefront II’s comeback? It’s hard to pin down, but the anniversary of the film, new shows, and the biggest game in the world currently celebrating the franchise probably reminded people just how great the game is. A sale across all major digital storefronts this month likely paired effectively with word of mouth. Actors from the franchise like Andor’s Muhannad Ben Amor and Janina Gavankar have taken to social media to support the game’s fan-induced comeback. The player community snowballed that excitement into a coordinated “Resurgence Day” to show DICE and EA that there’s still a lot of interest in the old game.
The excitement around the 2017 game has since shifted towards convincing Electronic Arts and DICE to consider a Battlefront III. And fans aren’t the only ones interested. Shockingly, one former Battlefront developer responded to a Reddit thread asking who from the original Battlefront II team would be willing to come back.
“Me and having heard around my group of ex-colleagues, we want to get the gang back together,” Mats Helge Holm, a QA Analyst and producer on the game wrote. Even in the absence of a sequel, Holm said that he’d love to see Battlefront II get a current-gen release with some modern features like crossplay integrated.
Holm did temper those expectations as he said many of his old colleagues, himself included, have left DICE since the game’s release all those years ago. While he’s willing to return for a sequel, it’s unlikely that everyone would be. This is fairly normal as game studios have high employee turnover from project to project. DICE is likely an entirely different company now than it was in 2017.
While a Battlefront III would be the surprise announcement of the ages, I think we’re far from such a thing actually happening anytime soon. DICE has its hands full at the moment working on the next Battlefield game alongside three other Electronic Arts teams. Among those teams is EA Motive, which also helped DICE develop Battlefront II. When even the secondary teams are busy with big projects, it's safe to say that a dream project is a long way from reality.
For now, players looking to fight in the iconic battles of the series, Battlefront II is the best way to do it. Luckily for players, the multiplayer game is fair accessible. The game’s Celebration Edition is currently on sale for as low as $10 on PlayStation. For PC and Xbox players, the game is included with the Game Pass Ultimate tier, making it easy to jump right into the galactic action.
