Star Warshas been around since 1977, and while it may have taken a good few years for the video game industry to catch up, the two have shared a pretty rewarding relationship ever since. ProvidingStar Warscontent when there was none, the 1980s and 1990s saw a range ofStar Warsvideo games release, and while not all of them were great, they all showed potential. That potential was realized in the early-mid 2000s, with games likeStar Wars: Empire at War,Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and of course,Star Wars Battlefront 2. These games formed the childhoods of many youngerStar Warsfans, building a legacy over the next decade that EA and Dice would have to overcome.
With Disney acquiring theStar Warslicense in 2012, it was only a matter of time before a wave of newStar Warsvideo games would release. Strikinga deal with EA,Star Wars Battlefrontwas announced and released in 2015. Though it had some potential, it failed to live up to the legacy of its title. In November 2017, EA and Dice had another go, producingStar Wars Battlefront 2, which suffered one of the most infamously terrible launches of all time. But five years later,Star Wars Battlefront 2may finally be a game worthy of the title.
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Star Wars Battlefront 2’s Disastrous Launch
Releasing on July 18, 2025,Star Wars Battlefront 2had a lot riding on it. EA and Dice’s first attempt at a bigStar Warsgame was met with a disappointing critical reception, and both publisher and developer knew they had to do better for the sequel. A full campaign, multiple game modes, sprawling maps, and a return to the class-based gameplay of its original inspiration -Star Wars Battlefront 2promised a lot before launch, but it left out the part about microtransactions.
Infamous for its greedy business practices,EA had snuck microtransactions intoStar Wars Battlefront 2. For each class and hero in the game, players can unlock a variety of “Star Cards.” Each of these Star Cards increases a certain trait of the class or hero, or adds a new ability, for instance, one of them increases the base health of the Assault class. While players could grind each character out and unlock these Star Cards, they could also pay real cash to purchase the most expensive tiers, giving them an immediate edge over the competition.
Though this was already enough to cause a stir on the game’s launch, it was about to get a whole lot worse. Upon starting the game, players soon found out that they couldn’t play as some of their favorite heroes or villains. Some of the mosticonicStar Warsheroes and villainswere trapped behind a pay wall. Some Redditors did the math and worked out that it would take roughly 40 hours of grinding to earn enough in-game currency to unlock Darth Vader.
Naturally, this caused a backlash of monumental proportions, with every corner of the internet banding together to condemn EA and Dice’s approach to microtransactions. AsStar Wars Battlefront 2launched, Dice announced that it was lowering the cost to purchase heroes by 75%, but it also lowered the amount of Credits players would receive upon completingBattlefront 2’s campaign. Just a few days later, Dice announced that it was scrapping microtransactions altogether, after an unprecedented amount of negative media coverage.
Aside from its disastrous launch,Star Wars Battlefront 2was a marked improvement over its predecessor. There were more maps, more game modes, more heroes and villains, more weapons, and more variety in the game’s overall design. But to many,Battlefront 2still felt lacking. Its heavily anticipated campaign ended up being a short, lackluster, predictable experience, and though it had more game modes than2015’sBattlefront, that wasn’t saying much. But the bones of a good game were certainly there, with tight gameplay mechanics, phenomenal visuals, and maps that truly captured the essence ofStar Wars.
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How Star Wars Battlefront 2 Redeemed Itself
Over the last five years,Star Wars Battlefront 2has done a lot to redeem itself in the eyes of fans. Beginning with the release ofStar Wars: The Last Jedi,Battlefront 2has added a slew of new content to the game since launch. The first major update addedThe Last Jedi’s salt-mining planet Crait, along with Finn and Captain Phasma, and a whole campaign epilogue.
A major update would also release alongsideSolo: A Star Wars Story, adding new appearances for a range of heroes and the Millenium Falcon, a Jabba’s Palace map, a Kessel map, and the new Extraction game mode. The Ewok Hunt infection-like game mode would also appear as a full-time mode soon after. The end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 saw multiple major updates release, all themed around The Clone Wars. General Grievous,Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Count Dooku were all added as playable heroes, along with a range of cosmetics for the Clones, and an expansive Geonosis Galactic Assault map. These updates also added the huge Supremacy game mode, where teams of 20 battle it out on both the ground and on a capital ship in an extensive large-scale battle.
The updates didn’t stop there. Over the next year or so, Dice added even more content to the game. A range of co-op missions were introduced alongside the Clone Commando troop type and the Felucia map.Battlefront 2received new cosmetics, playable heroes, and maps based onStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, too. In April 2020,Battlefront 2received its final update, bringingRogue One’s Scarif to the game, and some additional fan-favorite appearances for heroes like Rey, Palpatine, and Darth Maul.
Star Wars Battlefront 2may have made the worst first impression it possibly could, but over the last five years Dice has worked tirelessly to make sure that it’s a gameworthy of theStar Warslicense, and the legacy of theBattlefrontname. For the most part, it’s succeeded. ForStar Warsfans,Battlefront 2can feel like a dream at times, with beautifully-rendered maps and character models that capture the essence of the saga perfectly, large-scale game modes that imitate the chaotic action of the movies, and the ability to play as a plethora of iconicStar Warscharacters.
Star Wars Battlefront 2is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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