Battlefront: Death Star news soon, plus more modes coming to Skirmish? (Updated)
Since the July update dropped last week, it’s been a pretty dry spell for Battlefront news. However, the EA Star Wars’ official Twitter account hinted earlier today that more news about the Death Star DLC might be coming sometime this week:
@benwylie2002 We will have more information on the Death Star DLC later this month. Keep checking https://t.co/DR2Xf53LyC for updates.
— EAStarWars (@EAStarWars) July 27, 2016
Because it’s already July 27, we should hear something this week if more news is indeed coming. That said, it’s also possible the person running the Twitter account made a typo and actually meant August.
Additionally, Battlefront forum user DRU2011 created a poll asking people which multiplayer mode they’d most like to see next alongside Skirmish’s Walker Assault and Fighter Squadron.
This poll was later tweeted out by Dennis Brännvall, the lead designer for Battlefront, who added, “This is not a bad thing to vote on. No promises!” While this doesn’t confirm that more modes will be coming, it’s still encouraging to see a member of the DICE team promoting feedback for Skirmish, especially because the mode has garnered a mostly positive reception, save for its bugs and some balancing issues.
The poll has definitely found itself popular with over 7,700 votes cast at the time of this posting. If you haven’t voted, here’s the link!
Heroes vs. Villains has run away with the poll’s lead, scoring 42 percent of the vote. Supremacy is second with 22 percent and the Bespin-exclusive mode Sabotage is third at 10 percent. Outer Rim’s Exctraction holds onto the fourth spot at seven percent. The remaining modes all dwindle back in the four to one percent rage.
Brännvall has also talked about adding DLC content to Skirmish, saying in a PC Gamer article, “We’re looking into it. There’s a bunch of not-really-development-related issues with that, so we have to clear that, then we’ll see depending on how popular it becomes. You never know, right? Is it a very vocal minority that’s crying out for it? Or is it something a lot of people will be playing? We’ll see and make decisions based on that.”
We probably will never know exactly what the “not-really-development-related issues” are, but they could pertain to licensing or executive control over developer time.
Battlefront’s Community Manager Matt Everett later elaborated on the subject via Twitter:
@tdawgsmitty @EAStarWars @DICE_FireWall We do not have plans to add the Season pass maps to Skirmish at this time.
— Mat Everett (@sledgehammer70) July 27, 2016
While this doesn’t bode well for Season Pass holders, it doesn’t mean something won’t change later on. And, if the poll is any indication, Skirmish has proved popular with the community and hopefully DICE can bolster the mode later on in the future.
Update 7/29 2:00 p.m.: Looks like Death Star news might not be coming this month after all. The EA Star Wars official account has changed their wordage to “later this year” rather than “later this month”:
@Cflogical96 We will have more information on the Death Star DLC later this year. Are you looking forward to the next DLC!
— EAStarWars (@EAStarWars) July 28, 2016
