Bungie could be making Star Wars Battlefront 3 instead of longtime series developer DICE

[Daniel Sims]

Rumor mill: Star Wars video games have performed surprisingly well recently, and many fans believe it's about time for another Battlefront game. If the latest rumors from an Electronic Gaming Monthly tribute issue are to be believed, Disney agrees but hasn't settled on a developer. DICE is the most obvious choice, but Disney may be exploring alternatives.

Outside of DICE, which revived Star Wars Battlefront in 2015, Bungie might be the top contender to develop a new entry, according to EGM and prominent leaker Jeff Grubb. If accurate, the news suggests the project is years away, potentially resulting in the longest release gap in the franchise's history.

Disney has not yet greenlit Star Wars Battlefront 3 but is searching for potential development partners. While no one has fully committed to the project yet, DICE and Bungie are the two most likely bidders to express interest. Having developed the last two titles, DICE is the clear favorite, with Bungie as a potential backup.

The news comes from the Quartermann section of Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 265, part of a compendium to commemorate the legendary gaming magazine, which ceased publication in 2014 with issue 264. Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb, who contributed to the compendium, read the section in a recent episode of the outlet's Game Mess Mornings podcast.

A new Star Wars Battlefront could be an interesting fit for Bungie, the company behind Halo, Destiny, and Marathon, especially as it begins to recover from repeated layoffs. However, Bungie might be busy with its recently announced new direction, which involves reversing its decision to sunset Destiny 2 and bringing significant changes to Marathon after its lukewarm commercial performance.

EA's apparent abandonment of Star Wars Battlefront has baffled fans. The 2017 first-person shooter retains an active modding community, and last year's player count spike dwarfed its performance when it arrived on Steam in 2020. By the time a new installment arrives, the series will likely have experienced a longer release drought than the decade between Pandemic Studios' Battlefront II in 2005 and DICE's revival of the franchise in 2015.

Disney may be aiming to capitalize on the strong reviews recent Star Wars games have received, which contrasts sharply with the disastrous box office performance of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. While 2024's Star Wars Outlaws was moderately successful, this year's Star Wars Zero Company is well reviewed, and Star Wars: Galactic Racer opened with the highest Metacritic rating for a Star Wars game since Knights of the Old Republic, 23 years ago.

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Bungie could be making Star Wars Battlefront 3 instead of longtime series developer DICE

 

[Kirby1]

I'm sure it would have been bad. Dice has proven that they only chase trends in the shooter genre. BF6 is the worst BF game they've ever made, by far.

 

[m4a4]

Bungie is a shell if it's former self. I don't see why anyone would be excited for the news, except maybe because it's not EA making the game...

...Though, it could easily be argued that Disney wanted the BS in the recent BF games.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I'm sure it will be bad. Dice has proven that they only chase trends in the shooter genre. BF6 is the worst BF game they've ever made, by far.

Buddy, 2042 was just a few years prior. You forgot about that disaster already?

 

[jbright]

Bungie's Halo-era gunplay combined with the scale and atmosphere of Battlefront sounds absolutely incredible on paper. The question is whether today's Bungie is still capable of delivering something like that.

 

[Hecate91]

Bungie's Halo-era gunplay combined with the scale and atmosphere of Battlefront sounds absolutely incredible on paper. The question is whether today's Bungie is still capable of delivering something like that.

Bungie hasn't been capable of making a decent game since Halo 3, every competent developer there is probably long gone or was fired in the massive layoffs.

 

[Hecate91]

I'm sure it would have been bad. Dice has proven that they only chase trends in the shooter genre. BF6 is the worst BF game they've ever made, by far.

BF6 has been the only sort of decent game EA has made since BF4, everything since has lost direction of what the Battlefield fanbase wanted or has been an absolute failure.
Although BF6 has been a mess of EA/DICE not having a clue of knowing what to do besides copy Call of Duty with play style and map design, and the C suite making empty promises while the game is still missing features they promised on launch.
Although I don't trust Bungie to make a decent game anymore either, these AAA studios only care about the money, consumers are just wallets to the C suite suits pushing $80+ junk games.

 

[amghwk]

Bungie's Marathon 2 Durandal was highly regarded back then.