Star Wars: Battlefront "Lacked Long-Term Goals," Says Developer

One of the year's most-anticipated games, Star Wars: Battlefront II, is already looking to be a solid improvement over the enjoyable but at-times lacklustre original. In a new video released by PlayStation, DICE producer Craig McLeod spoke candidly about where, how, and why 2015's Battlefront ran into issues and how the sequel will improve on them.

In essence, the feedback from fans was that 2015's Battlefront lacked the depth that some were looking for. One piece of common feedback that DICE received from fans was, "We want more breadth," McLeod said in the video. So with the sequel, DICE and co-developers Motive and Criterion are hoping to give players more ways to spend time with Battlefront and enjoy it.

"A lot of people found that with the original Battlefront, after a few months of play, they lacked the long-term goals," he explained. "So these are the things that we are really trying to make sure we nail in this new game."

Whereas the first Battlefront only had characters and content from the original Star Wars movies (and later Rogue One), the sequel will have those, along with prequel and new-era. Key art for Battlefront II shows characters like Yoda, Rey, and Darth Maul. Not only that, but Battlefront II has a more in-depth progression system to encourage players to spend more time in the game and give them a reason to keep playing.

Another huge piece of Battlefront II is its single-player campaign. The first game didn't have one, but for the sequel, EA's Motive Studios is making a campaign that follows a new character named Iden Versio, a member of the Empire.

Overall, McLeod said the level of ambition that Battlefront II has is something he never thought would be possible in gaming.

"The ambition here that we've managed to achieve is something I never thought would be able to be realised when I worked in games," he said. "I am just incredibly proud of that."

Battlefront II has big shoes to fill, as the original shipped 14 million copies to become one of the best-selling Star Wars games in history.

The sequel launches in November, though you can play it ahead of that when the open beta begins in October on all platforms. At Gamescom this month, EA will show off more of Battlefront II's Starfighter Assault mode.