While the franchise isn’t exactly dead, you can forget about Star Wars: Battlefront 3 releasing anytime soon. The third installment might possibly be on the drawing board but without any deadlines or even interest for that matter from the people involved, the tentative sequel will not proceed any further.
There was previously an assumption that the Star Wars franchise would follow a two-year release-cycle. With Star Wars: Battlefront 2 releasing in 2017, many thought that Star Wars: Battlefront 3 would either release in late 2019 or somewhere in 2020. There’s now reason to believe otherwise.
Speaking with PCGamesN during Gamescom 2019 earlier this month, design director Dennis Brannvall candidly stated that the hunger for sequels is not the same as before. He pointed out an industrial trend where a game often releases with the intention of being supported through just a season pass, after which it’s abandoned more or less. If feedback warrants improvements or fixes, the developers make a note and implement them in the sequel. Hence, every such game has a longevity period (or developer support) of barely two years. This trend, which Brannvall called “transactional” of sorts, is not what the Star Wars franchise will be following, at least not after Star Wars: Battlefront 2.
Everyone remembers how the second installment was a total mess at launch. The controversy surrounding loot boxes and gambling drowned the game in a sea of negativity. If you dropped out soon after, you might be surprised to know that Star Wars: Battlefront 2 actually picked up down the road with a slew of patches and updates. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the game is actually in a much better spot right now than it was a couple of years back. The recent Clone Wars update, for example, added several new heroes, modes, and maps.
“We’re not afraid of making those changes, whereas if we’d been working on the sequel and it was just some paid season pass, that would’ve been ‘ok we’re not doing that for the sequel but we’re not gonna change it’,” said Brannvall.
This level of support is what Brannvall was talking about. EA is not ditching the second installment for another sequel. Instead, the publisher has decided to continue supporting Star Wars: Battlefront 2 to improve the state of the game as much as possible. Hence, why you won’t be hearing about Star Wars: Battlefront 3 anytime soon. Personally, that wouldn’t be a bad idea as well. EA must have already learned some big lessons from patching up Star Wars: Battlefront 2. The more lessons it learns, the better Star Wars: Battlefront 3 will naturally be.
