Hot off the heels of Andor’s second season, Fortnite’s themed event, and Revenge of the Sith’s long-awaited return to cinemas for its 20th anniversary, Star Wars Battlefront 2 saw an unprecedented surge of players. Within weeks, it hit a new peak player count of 11,000 active combatants on Steam, breaking its four-year record, while reports claimed that millions were diving back in across all platforms.
Over a month later, you’d expect the hype to have died down with Andor’s conclusion, Revenge of the Sith’s celebrations ending, and Fortnite moving onto its DC season ahead of the Superman film, but on the contrary, Battlefront 2 fever is still going strong. As of last night, it hit a new all-time peak player count of 35,000 players, more than doubling May’s record.
At this point, I’m convinced that we’ll hit 50k.
Fans continue to use this rise in players as a bargaining chip with EA, begging through petitions and viral social media posts for a sequel. The message was so widespread that it even caught the eye of several developers, who said that they want to “get the gang back together” for Battlefront 3.
Given that EA is focused on Battlefield 6, with every developer from DICE to Criterion working on the sequel under the umbrella of Battlefield Studios, that seems unlikely. One player even argued that “campaigning for Battlefront 3 was a massive mistake” and that the community “should have campaigned for Battlefront 2 to get support again”. Sequel or not — support or not — players are finding plenty to enjoy in the game.
You Have 3 More Days To Get Battlefront 2 At Its Cheapest Price
If you want to find out what all the fuss is about, Battlefront 2 is at its cheapest price ever right now on Steam. You can get it at 90 percent off for £3.49 until June 26, but with the Summer Sale beginning on the same day, maybe EA will extend the offer — who knows, with more and more people buying in, it could continue to break records.
Fair warning if you haven’t played the game, though, as you risk being matched up against players who haven’t left the servers since 2017, making competitive online play a nightmare for beginners. You also risk running into hackers on PC, which many players have noted is a major problem, enough for them to refund the game if able (or lamenting that they can’t). But it is also worth noting that there’s a co-op mode every bit as thrilling as the large-scale PvP conquests.
“I’ve only started playing again because of the hype, and I’ve been having so much fun just playing the 4-player mode with my friends,” u/GamiManic explained. “We suck at this game, so the lack of the super sweats and the difficulty of the AI really make it feel a little intense”.
Star Wars Battlefront 2
- Released
-
November 17, 2017
- ESRB
-
T for Teen: Violence
- Developer(s)
-
DICE
- Engine
-
Frostbite
- Multiplayer
-
Online Multiplayer
