In the midst of the video game industry's most devastating news to date, Electronic Arts officially announces that a third Star Wars: Battlefront is happening.
The first modern iteration of Star Wars: Battlefront was released in 2015, eleven years ago, followed by its sequel in 2017, nine years ago. Out of the two, I prefer the first for its gunplay, but the sequel added fantastic heroes and villains, maps, and playable factions. However, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was released to criticism for its overindulgence in microtransactions and a middling story. Further updates seemed to have redeemed its reception among critics and fans in the present, but not all's forgotten.
DICE developed the previous two games, published by EA, but introducing Respawn (another EA-owned studio) poses some interesting questions about the third game's potential. Respawn is famous for its fluid movement, as seen in their beloved mech-operating military first-person shooter Titanfall series and ongoing battle royale live-service Apex Legends. I would go as far as to say their gunplay is superb and incredibly satisfying.
Respawn has seen success with their Star Wars Jedi series, which they are still supporting. Those games allowed their talent for storytelling and worldbuilding to truly shine, which I believe the Battlefront games are sorely lacking. Battlefront 1 had no campaign, but even Battlefront 2's campaign was short and didn't stick the landing on what it teased for fans.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2's story followed Iden Versio, who led the Inferno Squad, an elite group of pilot soldiers within the Empire. She was a bona fide cool character at the start, and many fans and critics were disappointed that we didn't get to play the villain role for long. Iden eventually helps the Rebels and leaves the Empire. Players were hoping to side with the Empire because it obviously sounded fun.
If Respawn and DICE wanted to tackle this perspective again, I would like to see a story that dives deep into what it means to be the Empire's (or whichever era's big bad matches the time period of the game) most feared warrior. The sacrifices it takes, how strong your will must be. Star Wars may be a never-ending saga of good versus evil, but there's an undeniable appetite for games and media that follow the evil perspective. Take Darth Vader's successful comics, LucasArts' Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and even BioWare's (RIP) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (which offered dark side paths), for example.
It'll be exciting to see what Respawn and DICE can do together with decades of combined experience on the Star Wars IP. Whichever path they take, I'm sure we're in for a treat, and I wish these studios the best of luck. Or rather, may the Force be with them.
There's no target release for Star Wars: Battlefront 3 yet, but we'll keep an eye out for upcoming news!
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