More ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ Installments Coming In The Future, Says EA

Star Wars: Battlefront launched today for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Gamers should expect plenty more from the franchise multiplayer shooter, and we aren’t just talking about DLC. Electronic Arts is already expected to bring other games based on the Star Wars universe, but EA CFO Blake Jorgensen revealed that more Battlefront games are in the future, as well.

Jorgensen discussed EA’s plans for the Star Wars license the game publisher obtained in a deal with Disney while speaking at the UBS Global Technology Conference in San Francisco.

“It’s a big effort for us, and I don’t think there’s a human being in the world who hasn’t heard of the Star Wars movie coming. And so, [it’s a] great opportunity,” Jorgensen said, per GameSpot. “We struck a licensing deal with Disney a few years back that’s almost ten years in length. The game that comes out tomorrow, Star Wars Battlefront, is a traditional first-person style shooter game. Our goal is to make future Battlefront games, as well as other style games around the Star Wars franchise, both on mobile as well as console and PC. It’s a huge opportunity for us.”

Those other games include a rumored Uncharted-styled Star Wars title from Amy Hennig and Visceral Games. There is also a much less concrete role-playing title from BioWare, the makers of Dragon Age: Inquisition and the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda.

The good news is Visceral Games, BioWare, and Battlefront developer DICE will be able to develop games based on the Star Wars universe from the past, present, and future. This includes Star Wars: The Force Awakens plus future films such as Rogue One. However, don’t expect any direct tie-ins.

“We get access to all of the historical content as well as all the new content developed,” Jorgensen explained. “The beauty of the Star Wars franchise is it’s almost unlimited in what you can do with it. We know Disney has done a great job with other franchises and we believe they’ll do the same with Star Wars over time in delivering new worlds, new characters, new vehicles, all the things that make great video games. Our goal is not to make video games directly about the movies, it’s to use the IP in the movie to make great, exciting games.”

We are seeing a bit of that already with Star Wars: Battlefront and the upcoming free Battle of Jakku DLC. It is set in the time between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, but uses an important set piece from the latter. Whether future DLC will resemble that is unknown. DICE has revealed its DLC plans for Battlefront, but details on locations and settings were not included in the count of 16 additional multiplayer maps.

Here is the complete list of what is coming in the future for Star Wars: Battlefront.

• 4 expansion packs
• 16 additional multiplayer maps featuring new locations
• 4 new game modes
• 4 more heroes and villains
• Over 20 new pieces of “galactic tech” including weapons, vehicles, and Star Cards

Meanwhile, reviews are coming in for Battlefront, and they are on the mixed side. The presentation of the game is receiving high marks, as DICE has nailed the look, feel, and sounds of Star Wars with high quality graphics. It’s being knocked for a lack of content and depth, though, as many reviewers are noting the fun experience of playing a Star Wars shooter wearing thin after several hours.

If nothing else, Star Wars: Battlefront gives DICE and Electronic Arts a solid foundation to build from in future installments. Whether we see content set in the prequel era or in the new trilogy era is up for debate, but the latter seems most likely due to building off movie hype.

What would you like to see in future Star Wars: Battlefront titles? Sound off in the comments below.

[Image via Star Wars: Battlefront]