Star Wars Battlefront Reveals Importance of Planet Jakku from The Force Awakens

At Thursday’s special press-only preview of Star Wars: Battlefront at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, select press got an in-depth look at the new game, which will officially release November 17, 2015 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. While ComicBook.com also have an in-depth preview of the game, EA and Lucasfilm punctuated the presentation with a surprising story announcement.

Many have speculated about the time period between the end of Return of the Jedi and the start of The Force Awakens. Thirty year’s worth of of blanks sit waiting to be filled in, and Battlefront finally delivers one of them. At Thursday morning’s kick-off panel, director J.J. Abrams revealed that the desert planet in The Force Awakens is a new one, named Jakku (official spelling, for the record). Now, thanks to EA, we know why that planet is so important.

The first DLC for Star Wars Battlefront is free to all players, and premieres on December 1, 2015 for pre-orders, or December 8, 2015 for everyone else. It is titled “The Battle of Jakku,” and takes place “just after the victory for the Rebel Alliance at the Battle of Endor,” the Return of the Jedi’s climax. The battle is called a “pivotal moment,” and will see the Rebel Alliance clashing with Imperial holdouts at this desert planet. “These events lead up to that massive wrecked Star Destroyer that you saw in the trailer for The Force Awakens,” DICE Design Director Niklas Fegraeus revealed.

This is the first concrete information for what some fans are calling the “aftermath” era, and what Lucasfilm has officially dubbed the “Journey to The Force Awakens.” So far, the era will be covered their books and comics department, when the upcoming novel Star Wars Aftermath and Marvel’s Shattered Empire comic series hit. It shows just how important Jakku, the planet that Daisy Ridley’s Rey is a scavenger on, and where she meets John Boyega’s Finn to begin her adventure, really is. It’s a pivotal plot point in the question-filled era, and the first direct story connection we have between the two films.

This also illustrates the trust that Lucasfilm has in their ten year deal with EA Games. That Lucasfilm would allow EA to announce something with such importance to the overall story is nothing short of massive. The power of the Lucasfilm Story Group truly allows everything to tie together, and that means the games get in on the action, too.

Are you excited for the new Battlefront video game? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more Star Wars Celebration Anaheim updates. 

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