Star Wars Battlefront Dev Talks Pressure of Working on the Acclaimed Franchise

General manager of Star Wars Battlefront developer DICE, Patrick Bach, has opened up on the pressure the Swedish studio is feeling to deliver a game worthy of the Star Wars name. In an interview with GamesIndustry International, Bach talked about the challenging task and more.

"Our job has been to create a shooter that springs out of the IP of Star Wars and not the IP of DICE," he said. "It's not supposed to be a DICE game, per se, it's supposed to be have the DICE qualities but it's a Star Wars game first and foremost. That's the bigger challenge, first of all to figure that out--what is the difference between this and that?--and then also explain to people that Star Wars is so big it could be anything.

"We chose to create this because we want to create this experience, and this is the emotion we want to evoke so this is what we're focusing on," he added. "And that pitch is really hard because Star Wars is so many things. If you try to do everything then everyone will be a little bit disappointed. Instead we are staying true to what we think is the right thing for this game."

Bach was also asked if he foresees a day, if Battlefront's release goes well, that DICE might become known as a Star Wars studio instead of a Battlefield studio. The executive said he tries not to think too far ahead.

"One thing you don't want to do is remove the passion by planning too far ahead," he explained. "Passion needs to come from where you are right now, where you want to be tomorrow, not in ten years. If you make plans like that and they change it will ruin your creativity."

"We should probably just be open to the fact that things like that might happen and then we just roll with the punches, go wherever the wind blows."

EA and Disney's blockbuster Star Wars video game deal spans an entire decade, so the signs do point to DICE eventually making another game in the series. Outside of DICE, Dead Space creator Visceral Games is working on an all-new Star Wars game, rumored to be an open-world RPG. Veteran developers Amy Hennig (Uncharted) and Jade Raymond (Assassin's Creed) are working on this title for EA.

Also in the interview, Bach talked about the "pressure" DICE is feeling with Battlefront. Asked if working on the hugely popular, globally known franchise brings more pressure, or less, because the Star Wars franchise already has a story, Bach said the stress is actually somewhat different. 

"It's a completely different pressure, to be honest," he said. "If you ever own IP it can be anything, it's up to you to shape it, define it and also iterate it and turn it into whatever you want it to be for the future. Here we have a franchise that's been around for quite some time to be honest and people have very fond memories of what it was and maybe not what it is. Your memories are one thing and then the reality is something else. A lot of people get disappointed when they watch the movies again, if enough time has passed, because what they remember was not even in the movies."

Battlefront is seeing "extremely strong preorders," EA announced this week. Overall, Battlefront is expected to be a big-seller for EA, as the company anticipates that it will sell 9-10 million units by March 31, 2016.

Battlefront launches on November 17 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, just a few weeks before J.J. Abrams' Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awkens hits theaters. Everyone who buys Battlefront will receive a free expansion called The Battle of Jakku, which is based on the upcoming movie.

In other recent news about Battlefront, EA has told fans not to worry about the game being delayed. We also recently learned about Battlefront's new "Blast" mode, the game's version of team deathmatch.