Star Wars: Battlefront 2 Reached 19 Million Players From Epic Games Store Freebie

Star Wars: Battlefront II was recently free on the Epic Games Store, and the promotional period was massively successful for the sci-fi shooter.

Publisher Electronic Arts has announced that the game reached more than 19 million players as part of the promotion. "Thank you so much for the continued support, even after our final content drop! We'll watch your careers with great interest. May the Force be with your troopers!" EA said in a tweet celebrating the accomplishment.

It's not clear if all 19 million of these players are new to Battlefront II or if there is overlap between people who had already downloaded the game and elected to pick it up again on the Epic Games Store. Whatever the case, 19 million is a gargantuan number.

The Epic Games Store promo was so successful in bringing players to Battlefront II that the game experienced server issues as a result (which have now been addressed).

Released in 2017, Battlefront II was controversial from the get-go over its loot boxes and microtransactions, both of which were removed prior to the game's public release after an outcry. Microtransactions were later reinstated, but loot boxes never came back.

The hullaballoo over Battlefront II's microtransactions was so pronounced that it helped spur inquiries into loot boxes as a form of gambling across the world. Legislation in the US was introduced by Republican US Senator Josh Hawley, but this went nowhere, and Hawley has since garnered controversy for his part in calling for Joe Biden's US Presidential win to be overturned.

Despite the issues, Battlefront II sold well and has a strong playerbase, one that is even bigger now. By EA's latest count, the game and its predecessor had sold a combined 33 million copies. EA remains in business with Lucasfilm Games, and it's making more Star Wars games with the company.