In a new interview with gamesindustry.biz, Battlefront II Design Director Dennis Brannvall reflected on the struggles and fallout that came with the launch of the game whose narrative at that time was focused on how loot boxes were implemented into the game to how they won the community back and where they plan to take the game next.
Looking back on it now, Brannvall says that: “Not a week goes by without us thinking, ‘Imagine if we hadn’t launched with loot boxes the way we did.'” He believes that the reviews and consumers would have, focused on the game and the content “rather than the system that connected to it.” Brannvall believes that “we would have been a different place, that’s for sure because we truly believe the game is a worthy sequel to Battlefront 1 and lives up to the legacy of the Battlefront franchise.”
Brannvall and DICE had to start from scratch in trying to win back the community. He stated that he thinks that the change is comparative to Rainbow Six: Siege, which also got off to a rocky start when the game first launched. “We really needed to take a step back and do some house cleaning — not completely dissimilar to Rainbow Six: Siege. They didn’t launch the way they wanted, but now it’s doing well and I think we’re on a similar trajectory. We hit rock bottom in terms of player sentiment but now it’s climbing every month. We’re delivering more content this year than we did in the first year, which is also a sign of a healthy game. I think we had to take a step back, the team had to look at itself in the mirror a little bit, pick ourselves up from a really rough Christmas for everyone and then just get back to work.”
“Now it’s a lot of fun. It wasn’t that much fun in the spring of 2018. That wasn’t the best time at DICE, that’s for sure. The community’s happier than it’s ever been, especially with the big announcement yesterday.” Yesterday, EA and DICE shared what’s coming up next for Battlefront II for the rest of the year. August sees the Separatist Dreadnought and Republic Venator becoming playable in Heroes vs Villians, new appearances for droids, and the new Contextual Spawning system that enables players to spawn on dynamic tactical assets on the battlefield. September will introduce the new planet Felucia, four-player co-op for a large scale PvE adventure, the return of Instant Action which has teams fighting over five Command Posts in a single-player environment, and the Clone Commandos equipped with their own unique abilities. Near the end of the year sees content inspired by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and more.