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How Star Wars: The Force Awakens Screwed Battlefront

How Star Wars: The Force Awakens Screwed Battlefront

My older brothers and I decided last Christmas that Star Wars: Battlefront would be the game we’d bond over. However, like some gamers, we couldn’t always align our schedules, and when left to play the game on our own, we found it to be bereft of content – specifically a single player campaign. We eventually moved on to other things, other games. Apparrently, we weren’t alone in how we felt about Star Wars: Battlefront .

Recently, Geek.com reported that EA had at one point been developing a single player campaign for Battlefront . However, the company scrapped it so they could release the game along with The Force Awakens . Granted, an EA representative claimed that it has learned from its mistake, and, of course, we have news of a new Battlefront in development. We’ll see if that’s true, but could Battlefront have been a much better game if they have waited?

It’s easy to slag EA off for rushing a product – after all, there’s a reason for the phrase, “better to delay a product rather than rush it.” But I can understand EA’s desire. Whether or not the Battlefront name would inspire enough people to buy the game, The Force Awakens was a Force push too great to ignore. And with 14 million copies sold since last November, there’s no denying that such a cultural phenomenon was strong with the Force.

At the same time, what if they had waited? What if they invested all of their time into a game that didn’t need to rely on the success of one of the biggest film properties to propel their own? I mean, there once was supposed to be a movie tie-in to Batman: The Dark Knight , but that was scrapped and we got the critically acclaimed Arkham Asylum instead.

How Star Wars: The Force Awakens Screwed Battlefront

Again, there’s no guarantee they would have made that equivalent. The multiplayer might have been just the same had they delayed the game for a single player campaign, and the single player campaign might not have been any better. Sure, it would have become a more comprehensive product, but EA could have lost a lot of sales by missing such a crucial release date. I’d like to think that EA has enough faith in the Star Wars brand that it could have made the 14 million off of name recognition alone, but I seriously doubt that.

Games are a tough business with costly mistakes. There was a logical reason to capitalize on cultural tidal wave that is The Force Awakens . Even if their goals had been to make the most comprehensive – single player and multiplayer – Battlefront game ever and make the date of The Force Awakens , then they’re understandably hard pressed to compromise on the latter. Still, at least we know EA is listening, and we still have some time before Disney releases Episode VIII . Maybe the next Battlefront will be stronger in the Force.

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