Star Wars Battlefront 2 sees a stunning resurgence in the Force as thousands of players gather to battle

Star Wars Battlefront 2 has exploded back onto players’ radars. On May 25, 2025, it hit an all-time high concurrent player count on Steam with over 35,000 players, nearly eight years after its 2017 launch. That resurgence isn’t a fleeting May the 4th bump; it’s sustained momentum driven by renewed Star Wars hype and a game that’s quietly matured into one of the franchise’s most robust multiplayer shooters.

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What sparked the revival?

Several factors combined to pull lapsed fans back in:

• Star Wars media blitz: The theatrical re-release of Revenge of the Sith, rising acclaim for Andor and Fortnite’s Galactic Battle season all reignited interest in the era.
• Community campaigns: Reddit threads and TikTok clips encouraged veterans to return—many discovered that Battlefront 2’s graphics and gunplay still hold up by 2025 standards.
• Strong core gameplay: EA’s post-launch support transformed a once-fractured game into a living service with balanced modes, seasonal events and free cosmetic drops.

These elements kept Steam servers buzzing even weeks after the initial spike, proving the game’s long-term appeal.

From controversial launch to redemption

At release, Battlefront 2 was mired in controversy over its loot-box progression. Players decried pay-to-win mechanics and opaque microtransactions, prompting backlash so severe that EA temporarily disabled in-game purchases and came under scrutiny from the UK Parliament. Ultimately, EA reworked the system by early 2018, removing loot boxes from gameplay progression, overhauling star cards and shifting to purely cosmetic microtransactions.

Meanwhile, EU regulations in Belgium and the Netherlands led to the outright prohibition of loot boxes in those countries. What began as one of the industry’s most notorious debacles has become a textbook case in how to course-correct... and keep a multiplayer game alive for the long haul.

How Battlefront 2 evolved since launch

Post-2018, EA DICE committed to free updates that steadily enriched the experience:

• New maps and eras (e.g., The Rise of Skywalker content)
• Icons mode, letting players wield lightsabers or hero blasters in custom arenas
• Seasonal events tied to Star Wars holidays, keeping the roster fresh
• Ongoing balance patches, which have smoothed out combat and matchmaking

By pivoting away from pay-to-win practices and focusing on regular, no-cost content drops, DICE turned Battlefront 2 into a celebrated multiplayer staple.

Is Battlefront 3 finally on the horizon?

With its player base surging, calls for a true sequel have never been louder. A former Battlefront 2 developer even expressed a desire to “get the band back together to make Battlefront 3”. Yet EA has historically cited licensing costs and shifting priorities—especially after Battlefield 2042’s rough outing—to shelve major Star Wars projects.

If EA green-lights a new Battlefront today, industry insiders estimate a 3–5 year development cycle, meaning fans could be waiting well into the next decade. But given the current groundswell, EA may be hard-pressed to ignore demands for a follow-up that builds on Battlefront 2’s hard-won successes.

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