One of the more controversial and divisive features of 2015’s Star Wars: Battlefront was its season pass, prompting publisher EA to go in a different direction with DLC for this year’s Battlefront 2.
The reveal trailer for the game was unleashed at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida, detailing the game’s campaign and multiplayer. Watch it below.
While the addition of the single-player campaign is an encouraging sign for fans of the franchise, it’s the multiplayer where the core Battlefront experience lies, and that’s why it’s so important that the DLC release structure is done right.
With Battlefront, scattered releases and pricy expansion packs ultimately split the community up, an issue DICE also experienced with Battlefield games leading into the release of 2016’s Battlefield 1.
The developer won’t make the same mistake with Battlefront 2, confirming there won’t be a season pass for the game when it launches this year.
DICE’s Bernd Diemer, speaking with Mashable, admitted that season passes weren’t the best direction for a game of Battlefront‘s ilk.
“We don’t have a season pass,” Diemer said. “We decided on that, and it’s one of those difficult decisions because it has so many implications all around.”
Diemer explained that when the team looked at Battlefront‘s performance over its lifetime, it was clear that the season pass wasn’t the best way to go.
“We need to [take it apart] and come up with something better,” he said.
A different model is planned, however, with Diemer saying it was all about ensuring the community wasn’t split down the middle.
“We have something different in mind that will allow you to play longer, be [more] invested in the game without having a fragmented community,” he said.
EA says it will reveal its plans in the near future, and that it’s “heard the feedback from our Battlefront community loud and clear.”
It’ll be interesting to see just how a DLC model is implemented without a season pass.
Another EA game in Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare embraced a system whereby the community wasn’t divided by whether it had DLC or not.
Titanfall 2 went a similar route with free DLC, while Battlefield 1 offered a season pass but allowed players to group up and use a friend’s pass, albeit without earning in-game XP.
