EA may be wasting its Star Wars license by not confirming plans for a sequel to Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Recent reports suggest that DICE is set to start production for the next Battlefield immediately after the launch of the series’ most recent installment, 2042. This could push back the possibility for a new Star Wars: Battlefront title for quite some time and be a useless loss for both fans and EA alike.
EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront series has thus far been marred by the company’s tendency to implement pay-to-win mechanics and expensive DLC content. However, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 saw a resurgence in popularity in 2019 - almost two years after it came out - after EA removed its previous system in which players would either have to grind or spend money to unlock and boost the Heroes and Villains. With nostalgia for the original Star Wars: Battlefront series still strong and a large fanbase for the new one, EA has tons of reasons to make the another sequel. But with the DICE team now focusing on the next Battlefield game - which might be necessary seeing 2042 is a buggy mess - EA has put Star Wars: Battlefront on the back burner.
EA is wasting its Star Wars license by ignoring the Star Wars Battlefront series. The momentum they generated by removing Star Wars: Battlefront 2's pay-to-win mechanics would have been enough to carry fans into a sequel. With all the Star Wars content set to come out in the future, there is also so much opportunity for EA to release a sequel alongside a new film or show to drive sales. But instead, EA seems to be opting to squander all of its chances to make Star Wars: Battlefront 3.
EA signed its 10-year Star Wars licensing deal in 2013. In the near decade since then, the company have only released four core Star Wars games, including the two Star Wars: Battlefront titles, Jedi: Fallen Order, and Star Wars: Squadrons. That EA produced such a limited catalog of Star Wars games while three franchise films and a massive television series were released shows how much they have wasted the license. The publisher's studios had the opportunity to make huge titles like an open-world exploration of the outer rim that could have coincided with the release of The Mandalorian, but instead opted to make new Battlefield titles at a time when fans of that series are still playing the installment that came out in 2013, Battlefield 4. To know that EA cancelled many Star Wars games before they could come to fruition only reinforces the feeling of neglect.
On top of this, the games EA did release were underwhelming. While Jedi: Fallen Order was lauded by many, EA seems to have banked off of the hype for 2015’s The Force Awakens so that fans would ignore the abysmal lack of content in Star Wars: Battlefront. That game only had 12 maps based on four planets, with none of them coming from the prequel trilogy. Though Star Wars: Battlefront 2 would ultimately become a good sequel, it launched with even fewer maps, and its pay-to-win mechanics at launch would have been entirely broken if the previous game's DLC content hadn't already emptied fans’ pockets. Finally, while Star Wars: Squadrons offered a financial relief to players as a budget title, it was ultimately too little too late for EA to prove itself worthy of the Star Wars license.
EA may have its reasons to focus more on Battlefield than Star Wars: Battlefront. After all, the cinematic main series ended with 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, and the fanbase of Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is still alive and well in 2021. Nevertheless, with its infrequent and sometimes underwhelming releases, EA has truly wasted its Star Wars license.
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