It seems that DICE won’t be announcing Star Wars Battlefront 3 any time soon.
The news came from Tom Henderson, a games journo known for leaking Battlefield info, who reported via Twitter that Battlefield 3 isn’t moving forward at DICE. According to Henderson’s sources, DICE pitched the sequel to EA, but was denied. EA, the sources say, decided it would be too expensive to license and too difficult to turn a profit on.
Battlefront 3 was
a pitched title from DICE, but ultimately, the title was shot down by
EA due to licensing costs.“It got turned down
because it takes 20% more sales to make the same money”, said one past
developer.— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) November
20, 2021
While we must always take stories with unnamed sources at face value only, the thrust of Henderson’s thread does track. Given EA no longer holds exclusive rights to produce Star Wars games, it will now have to purchase the licence like everyone else. We imagine that’s an eye-wateringly expensive prospect to begin with. It would then have to contend with fan expectations and, as you might recall, the launch of Star Wars Battlefront 2 rather spectacularly failed to impress the diehards.
Henderson goes on to point out that several key Battlefront 2 staff have departed DICE in the last year. These include creative director Dennis Bränvall, core gameplay designer Christian Johannesé and lead hero designer Guillaume Mroz. This only serves to reinforce the theory that Star Wars Battlefront 3 isn’t moving ahead.
Henderson’s sources also point to the fact that, despite the launch of Battlefield 2042 only a week ago, DICE is already at work on the next Battlefield title. EA reportedly has a pair of Star Wars titles on the go internally, though both appear to be story-driven single-player titles.
And so that seems to be the end of the line for Star Wars Battlefront 3, for now at least. Things can always change – EA may find itself with an appetite for another multiplayer game in the Star Wars franchise.
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