Battlefront II beta, seasons announced; Star Card moniker returns
In unsurprising news, Battlefront II will have an open multiplayer beta.
The beta was announced via a post on the official Battlefront II website. Those that pre-order the game, or have already pre-ordered, will gain early access to the open beta.
No specific date beyond “Fall 2017” was announced. All three platforms (PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC) will have access to the beta.
The post also revealed that pre-orders also receive access to “Epic Lightsaber Mastery Star Card for Yoda” while supplies last. This likely indicates that this is a time-limited offer. However, I assume (like the other pre-order bonuses) that this Epic Star Card for Yoda will also be available to unlock naturally in-game.
The post also named the Epic Star Cards pre-order bonuses for Kylo Ren and Rey. Kylo has Power Reach and Solid Freeze, while Rey has Far Sight and Deep Mind.
Promo picture detailing pre-order bonuses for Battlefront II.
I’ll also note that the post interestingly calls what was previously known as abilities “Star Cards”, echoing the previous game.
Moving on beyond the post, the pre-order page for Battlefront II on the Origin website details “seasons”, likely providing a clue on how EA will handle post-launch content. The new bit reads:
A reason to play every day. Each season brings fresh, new downloadable content, available to all players. With exciting new locations, characters and quests, you can take part in a connected universe and be rewarded as an active member of the Star Wars: Battlefront II community.
By the sound of it, it appears that there will be a slew of new content available for free to owners of Battlefront II. This is definitely a good sign as it means we’ll hopefully see less of a community split down the line. It’s also the first mention we’ve had of “quests”. Perhaps they’re some way of unlocking multiplayer content?
Kylo Ren in the Battlefront II trailer.
Finally, it’s worth adding that Battlefront II’s design director Dennis Brannvall wrote a post on the community subreddit mentioning that he’ll be active on the site (he later confirmed this via Twitter). It’s definitely cool to see a developer interacting with the community that way, so hopefully it’ll continue into the future!
For those needing more Battlefront II news, the gameplay trailer will drop sometime tomorrow during EA PLAY’s opening presentation, which begins at Noon PT / 3 p.m. ET. You’ll be able to stream that via EA.com and EA’s Twitch channel.
The Assault on Theed livestream—which will provide our first in-depth look at Battlefront II gameplay—starts a half hour later at 12:30 p.m. PT / 3:30 p.m. ET. Besides the streaming options above, EA Star Wars’s official YouTube channel will also be hosting the stream.
If you’re looking for start times in other time zones, this is a handy map.
Get set Battlefront II’s November 17 release by following SWGO on Facebook or Twitter.
(H/T STCloxie on Twitter)
