Battlefront II fans are willing to pay for DLC to keep game alive

Fans are petitioning EA to keep Battlefront II with new content, and they're even willing to spend money on it.

Battlefront II has officially been retired into maintenance mode and won't be getting new updates. That means engagement will stagnate, and the playerbase will eventually fall off. Some fans aren't happy about it, and are petitioning EA to consider selling DLC instead of giving it out for free as part of the games' current microtransaction-funded business model.

At the time of writing, the petition has 6,800 signatures. Every signature represents a gamer willing to spend money on new DLC, and the petition praises DICE for saving Battlefront II from the clutches of loot box controversy.

"Star Wars: Battlefront II is one of the greatest video game redemption stories of all time. From a disastrous launch to a complete success, the transformation of the game is inspiring to all Star Wars fans and gamers alike. Unfortunately, the game was cut short while still having so much potential for wonderful new content. New maps, heroes, skins, etc. are a must for this game. All those who sign this petition would be willing to pay for new DLC to keep this awesome game alive," writes the petitioner Christen Adler.

Sadly, the petition may not affect EA's decision. Right now DICE, the studio behind Battlefront II, is all-hands-on-deck with a new next-gen Battlefield 6 game set for 2021.

Battlefront II isn't the only DICE game that's being retired: Battlefield V is also riding off into the sunset this summer.

Another reality is that Battlefront II was never meant to last this long. DICE had to artificially extend the game in order to fill the big Millennium Falcon-shaped hole in the Star Wars games timeline. EA has cancelled three major Star Wars projects to date:

• Project Ragtag (2017) - EA cancelled this game in 2017 and shuttered Visceral Games at the same time. It was ultimately killed because it didn't fit with EA's live service scope. Project Ragtag was a third-person action-adventure game set around bounty hunters andvery far into development before it was cancelled. It would've featured a multi-perspective cinematic story arc.
• Project Orca (2018) - EA Vancouver's Project Orca game was cancelled in 2019, and used the original assets of Visceral's Project Ragtag. EA Vancouver had been helping Visceral on Ragtag, but they rebooted the project once they took over in 2017. Orca was open-world, but we're not sure if it was a live game.
• Project Viking (2019) - When EA cancelled Project Orca, EA Vancouver moved to a smaller-scale project. This was Project Viking, a Battlefront spin-off that was cancelled in early 2019. Not a whole lot is known about Viking, but it was described as an open-world game set in the Battlefront franchise. It could've also included live elements of some sort.

So where does that leave Star Wars?

Right now EA is working on two Star Wars games: Jedi: Fallen Order 2 from Respawn, and a new mysterious game from EA Motive. Since there's no active live service game with strong engagement any more, we predicted that EA Motive's project is a live game with online monetization.