‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ November Release And Images Hit Ahead Of Gameplay Reveal

Electronic Arts’ Star Wars: Battlefront is expected to get a huge boost thanks to the release of Episode VII: The Force Awakens this December. The promotion for both kicked off Thursday at the Star Wars Celebration. New gameplay images and promotional art landed ahead of the official gameplay reveal on Friday. There’s also a release date leak that shows Electronic Arts’ willingness to take on Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Halo 5 this fall.

The Star Wars: Battlefront release date was obviously meant to be revealed along with the multiplayer shooter’s debut at the Star Wars Celebration on Friday at 1:30 p.m. ET. However, reddit users discovered the source the following line in the source code of the game’s website.

“The latest news and updates for Star Wars™ Battlefront. Available November 17, 2015 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.”

That puts Battlefront’s release almost exactly a month before Star Wars: The Force Awakens and in prime position for the holiday shopping season.

However, it also puts the game in direct competition against Call of Duty: Black Ops III, which will likely be released to PlayStation and Xbox consoles plus the PC a week or two before the Star Wars game. There’s also the release of Halo 5: Guardians for the Xbox One to contend with. Microsoft’s anticipated exclusive shooter is already dated for an October 27 release.

It should be fascinating to see how the hype of the Star Wars franchise holds up to two of gaming’s most established shooter series.

Now, you may have already seen the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer above that was just released. However, did you hang around for the very end of the YouTube video that promotes other videos? If you did, you’ll have noticed a clip from Star Wars: Battlefront. It’s hard to tell if this is pre-rendered or gameplay footage, but you can bet on it being part of tomorrow’s reveal.

If you need a bigger look at what is to come with the Star Wars: Battlefront trailer, this image appeared on the game’s website and appears to be from in-game footage. The details of the trees and waters are especially impressive. We’ll have to wait and see if the PS4 and Xbox One can pull off this level of fidelity after struggling with past DICE games in the Battlefield series.

Speaking of which, it appears that those attending the Star Wars Celebration will get to experience Battlefront in some form based on this image shared from the convention floor (via NeoGAF). It’s unclear if this will be a hands-on event, but the X-Wing is definitely involved.

There’s also the bit of promotional art at the top of this article that looks like it could easily be the box art for Star Wars: Battlefront when it is released. It definitely set the feel that the game will primarily be taking place during the original trilogy timeframe, though there are hints of prequel settings, plus DLC for the new movie, from prior leaks.

Finally, there’s the following tweet from @EAStarWars that gives an up close preview of how the Stormtroopers will look in Battlefront.

Incoming! #StarWarsBattlefront #SWCA pic.twitter.com/9wFMaDeKj0

— EAStarWars (@EAStarWars) April 16, 2015

What do you think of how Star Wars: Battlefront is shaping up so far? Sound off in the comments below.

[Images via Star Wars: Battlefront, NeoGAF]