When might we see the first trailer for EA’s Battlefront 2?
EA game trailers rarely disappoint.
Take last year’s Battlefield 1 trailer. That reveal trailer, which released last May, currently sits with 52.2 million views and was the most viewed video game trailer of 2016. It also has a resounding 2.1 million likes to a mere 40,000 dislikes.
I’d expect the Battlefront sequel’s upcoming trailer to have similar success (although the reveal trailer for EA’s Battlefront currently holds just under half of Battlefront 1’s total views with 23.7 million). While the next Battlefront’s reveal trailer doesn’t have a release date, several EA/DICE employees have teased that it’s likely coming soon.
So how soon is soon? Well, there are a few possibilities. Here’s a look at several timeframes to keep in mind:
Sometime in March or early April
As the marketing for the sequel isn’t following the same pattern as EA’s first Battlefront (that one had the above released over two years before release, then a behind-the-scenes featurette a year-and-half beforehand and, finally, its reveal trailer came at Star Wars Celebration in April 2015), it’s certainly plausible we may see something prior to this April’s Celebration.
However, I find it dubious that we’ll get a full-on reveal trailer within the next month. Instead, perhaps we could get a smaller tease, such as another blog post, a screenshot or a very short teaser/behind-the-scenes look.
EA also hasn’t confirmed platform support for the sequel, so that’s something that could be announced in the coming weeks. It was announced prior to Celebration in 2015. It’ll likely be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, but I’m curious to find out if the Nintendo Switch will be included.
With all that in mind, it’s worth mentioning that all EA really revealed in the months leading up to Celebration in 2015 was that Battlefront was to debut at the event. That announcement came on Thursday, March 19, 2015; which was roughly one month prior to the EA Star Wars panel at Celebration.
Star Wars Celebration
Star Wars Celebration 2017 runs from April 13 to 16 in Orlando, Florida. This event seems the most likely candidate for the next Battlefront’s reveal trailer.
The previous Battlefront’s reveal trailer arrived on Sunday, April 17 at Celebration 2015. Considering that the sequel has a similar launch time period (holiday season), it wouldn’t be unsurprising to see a reveal trailer for at this year’s Celebration.
The trailer could arrive as part of an EA Star Wars panel, although such a panel has yet to be announced. In the previous two Celebrations, EA Star Wars has had its own panel and it seems reasonable the publisher will get a third one this time around.
As to what day EA Star Wars might have a panel, that’s very much up in the air. Last year’s EA Star Wars panel was held on a Saturday, while the Battlefront panel in 2015 was on a Sunday.
Also to note, EA revealed the free Jakku DLC on the same date as the reveal trailer (along with the awesome Jakku key art) and also the fact that pre-orderers got the DLC seven days early. Taking this into account, it’s plausible that during this year’s Celebration we might get a better idea of any pre-order bonuses or early DLCs for the sequel.
EA PLAY
EA PLAY is EA’s own expo event that the publisher does instead of E3. Just like last year, EA PLAY will run in the days ahead of E3. This year’s dates are set for June 10-12.
While EA didn’t host EA PLAY in 2015, two Battlefront trailers were released as part of E3 in 2015. One being the above Walker Assault gameplay trailer and the other a trailer for the Tatooine Survival mission.
As I’m guessing we’ll see the reveal trailer at Celebration this year, I think it’s unlikely EA will hold off on showing us the first look of the Battlefront sequel until June. However, a gameplay trailer or two at EA PLAY wouldn’t be too surprising.
EA also has precedent for releasing a gameplay trailer at EA PLAY. Battlefield 1’s gameplay trailer released at the event in 2016; however, the game’s single player trailer was held off until September, roughly one month before that title’s release.
If EA doesn’t show off a campaign trailer for Battlefront at EA PLAY (a campaign has been confirmed for the sequel), perhaps the trailer might arrive at the D23 Expo, a Disney-centric event that will be held from July 14 to 16. As Star Wars is under the Disney banner now, a Battlefront presence at that event wouldn’t be all too shocking (EA did discuss their first Battlefront game at D23 in 2015).
When do you think we’ll catch our first glimpse of Battlefront 2? Share your speculation down in the comments, or ping SWGO on Twitter or Facebook.
