Battlefield 2042's launch bordered on disaster. Though the game has since been supported and updated into a fairly good place, what might make the most sense for DICE's next game is to give the Battlefield franchise a break and go for another Battlefront. With fanfare for the Star Wars IP at all-time highs, a new Battlefront could be a nice change of pace for DICE.
Despite being the second-biggest launch in Battlefield history, Battlefield 2042 is considered a disappointment by many. A return to form from the Battlefield 3 and 4 days was what DICE pitched to the public, but the results were left wanting. In fairness, the studio refused to abandon the title post-launch, ushering forth enough fresh content, bug fixes, and balance adjustments to get the game into a healthy place, but the damage from its release window was done. Its player count over the month of April 2023 on Steam was a mere 8,500 players, just barely above the active player count for Battlefield 5 over the same timeframe.
Right, The Time is, For Another Star Wars Battlefront
While EA's Battlefield franchise languishes, Star Wars continues to thrive. With a bevy of successful television shows and Star Wars Jedi Survivor being hailed as a triumph, the time is ripe for more Star Wars content. A new entry in the Battlefront franchise with all the lessons DICE has learned in the six years since the launch of Battlefront 2 could be the perfect hit for the studio. Battlefront 2 was a great preview into what DICE learned worked and did not work from the first game, and the single-player campaign showed a studio right on the cusp of being able to deliver a quality narrative-driven experience.
Battlefield fans have a list of unexplored or under-explored military conflicts they would love to be the focus of DICE's next title, but there is a hint of staleness to the franchise left over from the sour reception to Battlefield 2042. That staleness would best be ailed by giving the franchise a rest. A brief hiatus, while DICE dips back into Star Wars, could be a cure-all for both series of games, and just what the studio needs to get back into the good graces of the gaming public.
DICE Could Show Off All it Has Learned Since Battlefront 2
Another aspect of the decision could boil down to the publisher. EA has been turning up the dial on its Star Wars titles, with Jedi Survivor being the most recent example. Motive Studio's Star Wars Squadrons was a phenomenally well-put-together ship combat game that would be a fantastic resource for DICE if it decided to put a larger emphasis on the vehicles for a theoretical Battlefront 3. While Squadrons did not last long in prominence, facing a lack of content and post-launch support, it represented a vertical slice of what a more fleshed-out vehicle combat game in the Star Wars universe could look like.
Whatever DICE decides to do next, odds are it will have taken stock of the mistakes of Battlefield 2042. Whether the next game from the studio is another Battlefield, a new Battlefront, or something entirely out of left field, there is an overriding sense of optimism that the studio can right its wrongs, especially given the laudable effort to fix Battlefield 2042, despite the fact that abandoning the game may have been in the studio's better financial interest. Until an announcement is made, Battlefront fans can speculate on what a new entry in the series may look like, given all the new content Star Wars has delivered in video gaming and other mediums since 2017.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
