Star Wars: The Force Awakens hasn't hit the theaters yet, but EA has the numbers to support the fact that people are excited to revisit the Star Wars Battlefront franchise. EA announced yesterday that over nine million players participated in Star Wars Battlefront's beta test over the last week, making it the most successful test in EA's history—even managing to beat out Battlefield by a significant amount!
It's been almost 10 years since Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was released, and gamers have been highly anticipating the release of the new Star Wars Battlefront by EA and DICE. While the game is highly anticipated this year, many gamers have voiced complaints that it's very different from the Battlefront we remember, as well as being a simplified shooter lacking in depth and variety. On the other hand, gamers have also praised it for the presentation, graphics, and smooth gameplay from what was shown in the very limited beta test.
On the heels of the test, however, EA has revealed via Twitter that there will be no in-game dedicated voice chat for either PC or console players. Instead, EA mentioned that console owners could utilize the built-in party systems to communicate, while PC players could use "your favorite third party software to communicate with friends on PC" such as Skype, TeamSpeak, Mumble, or whatever else you'd like to use.
@moodyknowsall Battlefront will utilize the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One built-in party system for in-game chat.
— EA Star Wars (@EAStarWars) October 13, 2015
@RaiderGaming15 You can choose your favorite third party software to communicate with friends on PC
— EA Star Wars (@EAStarWars) October 13, 2015
Star Wars: Battlefront releases for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC on November 17, 2015. In addition to buying the game for the $59.99 price point (there's also the deluxe and ultimate editions), players can purchase the Season Pass for $49.99 to unlock future content.
Quick Take
I've been excited for Star Wars Battlefront for a long while now, and after playing the beta over the weekend, I can say my curiosity is sated. While I'm a bit disappointed that it's very different from the Battlefront that I loved played on the original Xbox, it was still enjoyable to play, especially the single player survival mode. The lack of voice chat, however, will make playing with people you don't know interesting I think, especially if you can't communicate. I couldn't seem to get text chat working during the beta, and that may have been by design, but if voice chat won't work, text will be needed.
