Star Wars Battlefront Isn't "Battlefield With a Star Wars Skin," Says Dev

DICE is most famous for its Battlefield series. So when it was announced that the studio would be working on a new Star Wars Battlefront, some worried this game would essentially amount to Battlefield with a Star Wars skin. In a new interview, DICE general manager Patrick Bach said such a game would be a "safe" and guaranteed money-maker in the short term, but it would have damaged the brand in the long run.

"You could have done Battlefield with a Star Wars skin; that would be safe," Bach said in the latest issue of OXM (via GamesRadar). "That would be the sane and sober thing to do if you just want to make money. That's the money-grab; go for it. But that's not very strategic in the long term."

He added: "Think where you want to be in five years and you won't want that reputation behind you because that would be a burden rather than a benefit. You want a fresh start so you can go in a new direction. That's exactly what we're doing. The first Star Wars movie was in the same place. When you look at it now, it was the safest bet ever--but that's easy to say now. Back then, why would you want this space opera?"

In a previous interview, Bach said DICE wanted Battlefront to have a "heart and soul of its own."

"Star Wars fans expect a Star Wars game, not a Battlefield game," he said over the summer. "We looked at what Star Wars stands for, rather than asking how can we tweak Battlefield to be something else."

The Battlefront beta is currently ongoing across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. It ends October 12, so if you haven't tried it out already, you'll want to do so right away.