Star Wars Battlefront 2 Hit Biggest Player Peak In Four Years On May 4

Summary

This year, for May 4, thousands of fans flocked back to Star Wars Battlefront 2.
It saw a 250 percent boost in players, reaching its second-highest ever peak on Steam.
With Revenge of the Sith back in cinemas and Andor streaming, it’s easy to see why Star Wars fever is so high right now.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 got a lot of flak at launch, not only for its microtransactions and loot boxes, but for locking iconic characters like Darth Vader behind dozens of hours of grinding. EA defended the decision at the time, arguing that it was to give players “a sense of accomplishment”, but that rebuttal quickly became one of the most downvoted comments in Reddit history, making the backlash loud and clear. So, shortly after, the number of credits required to unlock heroes was drastically lowered.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 Mod Adds 25 New Characters

Battlefront 2022 is a new mod that seeks to give the game a breath of life following the end of its support two years ago.

This marked the beginning of the game’s impressive comeback story, which culminated in a huge overhaul to progression, the fantastic co-op mode, and a Clone Wars-themed update, including Geonosis, General Grievous, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku, and Anakin Skywalker. But just as the game finally picked up momentum, support came to a grinding halt.

In the two years since, Battlefront 2 has mostly faded from the spotlight, with many fans lamenting what could’ve been, but on May 4 this year, players returned in droves.

As pointed out by u/Local_Ad_8171, Star Wars Battlefront 2 just hit its highest peak in four years. There was a 254.5 percent increase on Steam yesterday, hitting a concurrent player count of 5,583, second only to its all-time peak of 10,489.

And sure, it’s May 4, so Star Wars fans playing a Star Wars game is hardly surprising (it is Star Wars Day, after all), but with a peak far surpassing that of anything we’ve seen in the last few years, it’s worth looking at what made this May 4 so markedly different.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Revenge of the Sith returned to cinemas, the first Star Wars movie since 2019, while Andor’s second season is currently streaming. Fortnite is also celebrating with its most dedicated event yet, featuring a Star Wars exclusive weapon pool and even iconic spaceships like TIE fighters. The franchise is inescapable right now, and it’s hard to fault people wanting to jump back in and relive some of the grander battles first-hand.

Now, c’mon, EA. Where’s Battlefront 3?