As we swing into one of our busier times a year with a flood of game releases as well is the onslaught of summer movies, there is also the matter of convention season to contend with. As we busily prepare for our panels and coverage of Phoenix, Comicon, we are all too aware that E3 is coming up with San Diego Comic Con, PAX Prime and numerous others to follow. As we contend with the flood of news and invites it come during this time of year I was surprised to see that a sequel to EA Star Wars Battlefront was being touted for release next year. While we all know that Titanfall 2 and various EA Sports games have been announced as being part of the inaugural EA Play showcase, the announcement of a sequel took me by surprise.
It is no secret that EA has several Star Wars themed games in development at their various divisions. They recently announced that Respawn would be working on a title and it has been widely reported that Visceral has been working on a title for the last couple of years. Production and development cycles per games can be a tricky thing because some game simply need more time than others. That being said, I had guessed that the Visceral title would likely be the next one that we see or at the very least would be announced likely at the EA showcase they will be doing before the start of E3.
While I expect that a franchise as popular as Star Wars will be represented at the showcase and/or EA Play, it did strike me as odd that this was the time that the game was announced as it does make one wonder what is the current status and timetable for the other games. Will EA announce the Visceral title and then have it in stores before the end of the year or are we looking at multiple releases in the Star Wars universe in 2017 or 2018? There are going to be movies released annually for the next five years so naturally releases want to be time to coincide with this. With the decision by Lucasfilm to move Episode VIII two a December 2017 release as opposed to the originally planned summer date, this does give EA more time to complete products and have them ready for consumers during the lucrative holiday season.
I have not had the issues with EA Star Wars Battlefront that others have as well I do believe there is room for improvement, I do think the company gave a decent amount of content at launch and has backed it up with free maps and gameplay modes for those who do not wish to purchase the DLC. That being said, I am not blind to the fact that there is controversy and debate regarding the title. The decision to release a follow-up so soon is an interesting one. Cynics will say that it is a cash grab that will offer new maps and modes set in the new films time frames and settings. Essentially giving fans the content they have been asking for but what many outspoken people believe should have been included in the first game to begin with. I think it’s important to take a wait-and-see attitude toward the release and see exactly what is being offered and how much difference there is from the original release. It is clear that the EA Star Wars Battlefront line is a key part of the Star Wars strategy for EA, I just have to wonder when we’re going to see other titles from the universe revealed by the company. This could all become a moot point in a couple of weeks as I would be surprised if EA did not have anything other than EA Star Wars Battlefront discussed are shown at their upcoming events, but regardless of this comes to pass or not, it is interesting that a sequel was announced and targeted for next year ahead of any other news of the games already in development.
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