Hot off the conclusion of Andor’s incredible Rebel Alliance origin story, fans have been clamoring for a great Star Wars game to play. The most unlikely candidate of all is now filling the void: Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Once a lightning rod for controversy around pay-to-win loot boxes that escalated all the way from subreddit outrage to the halls of Congress, eight years later EA DICE’s multiplayer galactic battlegrounds sim has come roaring back to chart on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S and break records on Steam.
Battlefront 2 had just 1,500 concurrent players in April. Some claimed the game was all but “unplayable” on PC due to the proliferation of hackers and cheats years after EA more or less abandoned the 2017 big-budget blockbuster. However, the community has been slowly ramping back up ever since Andor’s season two series finale in May. It peaked at around 18,000 concurrent players that month. Then over the past weekend it doubled to an all-time record of 35,321.
The caveat there is that Battlefront 2 wasn’t on Steam back during its initial launch, only arriving years later after beginning life on PC as an EA Origin launcher exclusive. But Battlefront 2 fever has been unmistakable on console as well. It’s been slowly climbing the charts on PlayStation (PS4 and PS5) and Xbox (Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One) and has sat in the top 15 most-played games on both platforms for weeks now.
Why are so many people suddenly invested in grinding out sometimes hour-long, multi-phase, 20 v 20 Supremacy mode matches? It feels like the Andor hangover was at least partly responsible. The drama-fueled, high-stakes thriller ends just before the biggest Star Wars battles kick off in Rogue One and A New Hope. A true feeling of catharsis to the galactic conflict only existed off screen, leaving fans looking for ways to reenact the showdowns for which Andor lays the groundwork.
It helped that one of the show’s actors, Muhannad Ben Amor, used the spotlight to share his Battlefront 2 love in an Instagram story that subsequently went viral. He said he played almost 500 hours of the game when he was younger (he was only 12 when it released) and called for a sequel. “Grew up with Battlefront 2—been a veteran since day one,” Amor said. “Let’s HOPE Battlefront 3 happens.” He wasn’t the only one trying to manifest Battlefront’s return on social media.
The Reels and TikTok algorithms were full of Star Wars memes after Andor wrapped, and they instantly became a pipeline to nostalgia-bait of people playing and talking about Battlefront 2 like it was a lost treasure from a bygone era. The flood of content was a mix of players reliving the game’s greatest hits, like transforming into Yoda or Darth Vader and demolishing opponents on the battlefield, or putting life on hold to finish Supremacy matches like school had just let out for the summer in the late, pre-pandemic 2010s.
Social media platforms convincing you that everyone else is doing a thing can be a powerful incentive. FOMO is a hell of a drug. It also helps that Battlefront 2 is currently dirt cheap. The game is on sale for just $4 on PC and disc copies are still bargain bin fodder at places like GameStop. But I think another major dynamic to the Battlefront renaissance is a recent frenzy of Titanfall rumors that culminated in the news that a mech-based multiplayer incubation project had just been canned at EA. Amid fresh layoffs even as the Madden publisher lavishes shareholders with stock buybacks, the calls for Battlefront 3 have reached a fever pitch at the exact moment when it seems the least likely to ever become a reality.
The role of Battlefront 2 as a “throwback” to a better time is an ironic one considering its greatest legacy remains a pay-to-win loot box cash grab so brazen it forced the entire gaming industry to back off of the microtransaction trend. But with that controversy no longer shading every aspect of the conversation around the game, the parts of Battlefront 2 that were fun have been able to shine more than ever. Unburdened by the hype and new release expectations of a $60 game, Battlefront 2 can just be that multiplayer distraction that hits all of the Star Wars fanservice sweet spots. Battlefront 3 might never happen, but the dream of one has never been more alive.
.