Reports swirling around Electronic Arts’ widely panned plans to kill cherished RPG developer BioWare alleged Star Wars Battlefront 3, the next game in the popular rebooted shooter franchise, was in development. However, those wishing to play it soon are a bit out of luck. Reportedly, the game is still very far away.
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According to Bloomberg, development on the multiplayer-centric shooter has not even begun yet. And since AAA game development takes years upon years, Battlefront 3 isn’t likely to come out for some time. It did take DICE only two years to make 2017’s Star Wars Battlefront 2, however, such a tight turnaround now a decade later seems next to impossible.
EA had previously more or less heavily implied Battlefront 3‘s existence as it was shutting down BioWare and canceling the next Mass Effect. It officially noted Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment and Battlefield lead DICE would be working together on a new game. Multiple unofficial reports pointed to this mystery title being another Battlefront. It’s not a huge logical leap, given how both teams are veterans in the first-person shooter genre.
EA Reportedly Prioritized Star Wars Over Mass Effect
The bulk of the aforementioned Bloomberg report revolved around how EA chose to focus on Star Wars over Mass Effect. Both new games would have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to finish, so it went with what it thought was safer and more lucrative, despite Mass Effect being years into development. Internal politics also allegedly played a role, as shown by its reported sidelining of entertainment and central development president and 30-year EA veteran Laura Miele, who was said to be an advocate for both BioWare and Mass Effect.
Going private is going to cost EA a lot of money. The leveraged buyout at the center of this gave EA around $18 billion in debt, meaning it will have to rake in the cash consistently in order to pay it off. Debt — especially in this precarious time in the industry — leads to safe bets.
Battlefront 3 being reportedly developed on the grave of Mass Effect only helps contribute to its cursed history. The original Star Wars: Battlefront 3 from Free Radical Design was reportedly almost done but was canned in 2008. Leaked builds and trailers gave players a look at what never officially saw the light of day, which included the ability to seamlessly transition from dogfighting in the skies to shooting on the ground in addition to a single-player story mode. Reasons for its demise were never confirmed, as some pointed the finger at LucasArts for not wanting to fund the rest, while some accused Free Radical of missing deadlines. Some of this work reportedly made its way into Rebellion Development’s 2009 PSP game, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron.
Does this news of another Battlefront seem like cover for killing a prestigious studio? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
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