Star Wars Battlefront 2's Free Last Jedi Season Of Content Has Begun

Much has been said about EA's planned use of microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II, but its approach to post-release downloadable content is far more attractive. All DLC will be released for free, and that starts this month with the first "season" of updates, which will in this case be themed around the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi.

This started modestly this week, as you can now choose to ally yourself with the First Order or New Republic. Doing so presents you with special, weekly faction quests over the next few weeks with rewards that correspond to your side.

"Completing these will not only reward you with Credits and Crafting Parts, but help edge your faction closer to victory, giving all members of that side a additional rewards," developer DICE explained. "The other faction will get a crate of their own with lesser prizes, but it will hopefully come with a drive to fight back even harder."

For this first challenge, players have to rack up 50 kills with each trooper class. This doesn't need to be completed before the next challenges arrive; you have until the end of the season to finish and can complete them in any order.

The bulk of this month's additions come on December 13. Battlefront II will add two new heroes (Captain Phasma and Finn), a Galactic Assault map (Crait), a Starfighter Assault map (D'Qar), and a new vehicle (Tallie's A-Wing), along with new weekly and daily challenges. All of that comes on the multiplayer side, but there's also something new for single-player, as we'll get an additional mission called Resurrection. This sees you again step into the shoes of Iden Versio, this time "during the days of the First Order's rise to power."

Throughout the month, other new challenges and special events will also arrive, including a holiday playlist on December 27. Everything will be available on all platforms--PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC--and is scheduled to coincide with the release of The Last Jedi on December 15. For more on that, read our The Last Jedi review.

This all comes after an update earlier this week that altered Battlefront II's progression. Players now earn Credits more quickly and should generally get their hands on new items in less time, although the fundamentals of how the progression system work remain unchanged. We're still waiting to find out how EA plans to reimplement microtransactions, a move that we know is coming.