Unless you’ve been living under a rock (that too, one without WiFi), DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 didn’t have the smoothest launch. Plagued with pay-to-win microtransactions which resulted in overwhelming backlash, the development team spent a while retooling and revamping the title. Almost two years later, DICE still thinks about how things could’ve gone differently at launch.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, design director Dennis Brannvall says, “Not a week goes by without us thinking, ‘Imagine if we hadn’t launched with loot boxes the way we did.’ We would have been a different place, that’s for sure, because we truly believe the game is a worthy sequel to Battlefront 1 and lives up to the legacy of the Battlefront franchise.”
Brannvall compared the process of revamping the game to Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege when it initially launched. “We really needed to take a step back and do some house cleaning — not completely dissimilar to Rainbow Six Siege. They didn’t launch the way they wanted, but now it’s doing well and I think we’re on a similar trajectory.”
New content is also still being provided for free. During Gamescom, the developer confirmed that the Separatist Dreadnought and Republic Venator would be playable in Heroes vs. Villains this August. Capital Supremacy will see some changes and each faction will have new Droids. If that wasn’t enough, a four-player co-op PvE mode where players can choose the Galactic Republic or the Separatist Alliance will be available in September. Instant Action will also be returning to the franchise next month, allowing solo players to fight alongside AI teams in massive conflicts.