14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at DICE and Electronic Arts are putting the finishing touches on Star Wars: Battlefront, which is set to arrive later in the fall on a variety of platforms, but it seems that the studio was close to refusing to work on the title because they had other previous projects ongoing.
The information comes from Patrick Bach, the general manager, who is quoted by Games Radar as explaining that when Disney initially entered a collaboration with the publisher, the company was engaged with a range of other titles.
He says, "On our side, we had this opportunity but were fully booked with other work and thought, 'argh, we can’t do that!' But then the heart kicks in, says 'we will figure it out', and we figured it out. Because you can’t say no to a project like that."
Bach says that careful project management meant that DICE needed to hire some new developers in order to deal with Star Wars: Battlefront and also found people who were tired of working on Battlefield and were ready for a new challenge.
The two shooters are not offering the same core mechanics
Star Wars: Battlefront is designed to be more accessible and to appeal to those who are fans of the movies but might have not engaged with a competitive multiplayer shooter before.
DICE wants each player to find at least one mode that they love and to then stick with it in order to improve their performance and find others with whom they can share the fun.
The biggest unique feature of the shooter is the Hero system, which allows players to become Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and more, and wield their awesome powers.
Official documents from Electronic Arts show that a new Battlefield will be announced at some point in 2016.
Star Wars: Battlefront will be out on November 17 on the PC, the Xbox One, and the PlayStation 4.
Gamers can get into the beta for the title, which will feature three maps and three modes, starting on October 8.
A special Battle of Jakku downloadable content pack linked to The Force Awakens will be offered on December 1 for those who place a pre-order and eight days later to the rest of the community, all for free.