Since EA Star Wars Battlefront 2 was discontinued in 2020, fans have been waiting for a sequel to the multiplayer shooter. After all, it is one of the best games for the IP on Steam. Now hope is growing in the community again.
What keeps fans hoping for a sequel? Star Wars Battlefront 2 had a rough launch, which was due to monetization. On Steam, the game now has over 57,000 reviews, of which 87% are positive.
Recently, the player count of Star Wars Battlefront 2 is said to have risen sharply again. A user on X (formerly Twitter) writes that the shooter peaked at over 100,000 simultaneous players in May. The number of concurrent players has now settled between 80,000 and 90,000.
A source is not given, and the numbers cannot be verified independently. After all, the game on Steam is experiencing an increase in players: While there were only about 1,500 players simultaneously in April, there were around 8,000 in mid-May (via steamdb.info).
The increase in players gives fans of the games hope that if the demand remains, a third installment might still come. However, the catalyst for the hype was not Battlefront 2 itself, but a series.
Is the hype for the series enough for a sequel?
At the end of April, the second season of the Star Wars series Andor started. It has been very well received by both critics and fans: Metacritic gives it a metascore of 92/100 based on 32 critic reviews and a user score of 7.9/10 based on 215 ratings. The series likely increased interest in the IP and reignited excitement for Battlefront 2.
The call in the community for a successor is getting louder, even on TikTok. Under the hashtag #battlefront3, they want to encourage EA to finally start the development of a Star Wars Battlefront 3. German YouTubers and Twitch streamers like HandOfBlood also join in.
How likely is a sequel? At least according to the current state, a Star Wars Battlefront 3 – despite the huge hype – seems rather unlikely.
- The developer studio DICE is said to have pitched a third installment to EA, but the publisher rejected it (via merchmates)
- The reason for this is said to be the high licensing fees for the Star Wars IP: The game would have to sell significantly better than proprietary brands like Battlefield to be profitable.
The DICE team is currently also working on the next Battlefield. Therefore, Battlefront 3 would have to either be developed by another team or only afterwards. And since the new Battlefield does not yet have a release date, a Battlefront 3 from DICE and EA would take many more years to arrive.
Somehow, the name Star Wars Battlefront 3 seems to be cursed. Because the ‘new’ Battlefront 3 is not the only one that will probably never see the light of day. In 2004 and 2005, there were Battlefront 1 and 2, but no third part. A developer from this original series revealed more: Star Wars Battlefront 3 was almost finished and extremely good when development was halted – “Players are being robbed”
