Star Wars Battlefront 2, released in 2017, sparked controversy at launch due to its use of loot boxes and allegations of a pay-to-win system. But that hasn’t stopped the aging shooter from becoming one of the biggest games this Summer.
Electronic Arts and DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 is nearly a decade old at this point, but thanks to Andor-mania and a lack of newer Star Wars shooters, the online FPS is making a massive and surprising comeback. And this surge in popularity has translated into big sales, with Battlefront 2 cracking the top 15 best-selling games of May.
On July 9, Mat Piscatella, the executive director and video game industry analyst at retail tracker Circana, shared some sales data on social media for the month of May. At the top of the list of best-selling games was Elden Ring: Nightreign, followed closely by Doom: The Dark Ages. But the most interesting piece of data could be found lower in the list. At number 12 is Star Wars Battlefront 2. The previous month, EA’s Star Wars shooter was the 135th best-selling game. That’s quite a leap! On the PC charts specifically, Battlefront 2 was the 5th best-selling game in May. Previously, in April, it was at 76.
“[Battlefront 2] player counts started to surge with Revenge of the Sith 20th hitting theaters, then bumped more with Andor, before peaking during the week of May 25th. Also had lots of promotional activity and discounted pricing on the digital storefronts,” said Piscatella on social media.
Anecdotally, I’ve seen many different people on my friends list booting up Star Wars Battlefront II and hopping online. When I played with them, most were excited that the game was popular once more. Some even said things like, “Wow, EA really hasn’t made anything as good as this in years!” or “This is the best Star Wars game ever!” It’s very funny how a few years and some updates can erase all the negativity that once surrounded this troubled shooter.
Will all these sales and huge playercounts translate into anything? I’m not sure. I’d love a PS5/Xbox Series X/S port of Battlefront 2, or at the very least an option to run the game at 120FPS on the more powerful machines. But beyond that, it seems EA is instead betting the farm on Battlefield and not making a new Star Wars Battlefront.
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