The video game industry is all about money, so where's Battlefront 3?

[ThoughtlessConcept]

I recently watched yet another video about the Battlefront series, the video outlined many different reasons for a third entry in the series. However one thing the video seemingly failed to mention was sales numbers, the Battlefront series has sold over 14 million units (not including PC sales), that's more than Dead Space (a series on it's 3rd game) could ever dream of, that's a number that unless Infinite sells 7 million+ the Bioshock franchise won't be able to touch either(a series also on it's 3rd game).

So the question is, in a space like the video game industry, where all bets are off as long as there's money to be had, where is Battlefront 3. The only games that have the same selling power these days, are EA and Activision's FPS franchises, and Nintendo's derivative first party releases on the Wii. It's been almost 8 years since the last game, it could have been made 2-3 time already, but for some unknown reason, LucasArts has left all this money sitting on the table and left millions of fans scratching their heads. So I guess I'll ask the question again, in an industry that is all about money, where is Battlefront 3?

 

[shrekfan246]

I think the answer to this can basically be boiled down to: LucasArts are idiots.

Hole in one.

That pretty much covers it, I imagine. It also covers why we haven't seen another Republic Commando or Jedi Knight/Jedi Academy, why Old Rebublic got an MMO for the third game instead of an actual third game, and why The Force Unleashed had an insultingly short, inconsequential sequel that couldn't even reach the mediocre narrative heights the first one hit.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it is coming now... in a rather disappointing capacity.

It probably just got lost in the pile of things to milk, LucasArts went rather crazy on their Star Wars IPs and just did a new one on every turn, there is actually better stuff then Battlefront still completely lost in there.

 

[Auron]

I think the answer to this can basically be boiled down to: LucasArts are idiots.

Thread has ended already folks. I mean, they did kill Adventure games then made a co-effort with Telltale on Monkey Island and completely fucking dropped it again for no reason afterwards, and a decent Star Wars game hasn't been made in years, the good ones were dropped and the mediocre ones got sequels. It's like they dislike money.

They also could have done amazing Indiana Jones games sorta like the new Tomb Raider(Uncharted thinks I don't exist so I think the same back.) but never showed any interest.

 

[Christemo]

LucasArts are retarded, there´s not much to say about this. If they spent the budget of the coming trilogy on Battlefront 3 instead, they´d make billions.

 

[Evil Top Hat]

http://www.mountspace.net/eng/news/disney-plans-to-release-two-new-star-wars-shooters-first-assault-and-battlefront-3-2013-03-14

^^ The closest thing to a Battlefront 3 announcement we have, and a screenshot or two.

Battlefront 3 has been in development on and off for a good number of years, delayed and set back by bankruptcy and IP rights. Studios have been looking to make it for a long time. I believe all progress on BF3 was lost when Pandemic went down the toilet, and it's just been an awkward set of business kidney stones since then. Finally, it looks like Battlefront may see the light of day again now that Disney have taken the helm on the Star Wars IP.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Edit: Neeeevermind. If a mod wants to delete this post, go ahead. I can't.

 

[Therumancer]

I recently watched yet another video about the Battlefront series, the video outlined many different reasons for a third entry in the series. However one thing the video seemingly failed to mention was sales numbers, the Battlefront series has sold over 14 million units (not including PC sales), that's more than Dead Space (a series on it's 3rd game) could ever dream of, that's a number that unless Infinite sells 7 million+ the Bioshock franchise won't be able to touch either(a series also on it's 3rd game).

So the question is, in a space like the video game industry, where all bets are off as long as there's money to be had, where is Battlefront 3. The only games that have the same selling power these days, are EA and Activision's FPS franchises, and Nintendo's derivative first party releases on the Wii. It's been almost 8 years since the last game, it could have been made 2-3 time already, but for some unknown reason, LucasArts has left all this money sitting on the table and left millions of fans scratching their heads. So I guess I'll ask the question again, in an industry that is all about money, where is Battlefront 3?

Well, I seem to remember hearing that Battlefront 2 wasn't that big a success by the standards it required. The "Star Wars" liscence being very expensive and usually coming with a substantial profit sharing arrangement aimed right back at Lucasarts. This is apparently one of the big reasons why "Star Wars Galaxies" was taken down, it wasn't just "The Old Republic" but that so much money and profits were demanded for the Star Wars liscence that a smaller, but dedicated, community couldn't support the game. Star Wars has apparently always been about the liscencing, and at the end if George Lucas wasn't going to be rolling in money, he wasn't really interested, and to be honest as far as a business goes Disney doesn't seem much better.

When looking at units moved, you also have to consider the price paid per unit, Battlefront 2 seemed pretty cheap pretty quickly, like it fell through the floor. I wound up getting my PSP copy for like under $10 new if I remember (8.99 at a value store I believe) when it was only a few months old, which is one of the reasons I picked it up at the time.

I could be wrong, but this is my impressions of the title, though it doesn't surprise me that it continues to have dedicated fans, since it wasn't a terrible game as far as I played it. The resistance to a sequel just doesn't really surprise me.

That said, I expect a new blitz of merchandising when the new movies come out, I expect if your going to see a new "Battlefront" or spiritual sequel, it will be then, and it will feature whatever elements are new to the new movies rather prominantly.

I'm also sort of hoping we might see a new Star Wars MMO developed then, in the "present" era, it has a lot of potential for this kind of game, and despite EA's reception I would hope they would have learned the nessicary lessons from it's failure. If someone could take the best features of TOR and SWG I think you'd see a pretty awesome game.

 

[Fappy]

Everyone's already said it, but I feel I need to add my voice to the choir. LucasArts corporate leadership has been a bunch of paste-eating monkeys for a long time now. Hopefully Disney straightens them out and purges the idiots.

 

[fezgod]

As much as I would love a Battlefield 3, I think if it is released, it probably won't be a very good game. Star Wars games in general have been pretty shitty in the last few years. Since, according to what I've read, Battlefield 3 is almost completely finished, if it was released this year it would be still be behind modern games since it has been more or less completed already. Since its doubtful that Lucasarts will rebuild the game from scratch, we'll most likely end up with a game that looks and plays like it is several years old. But they'll make a lot of money from it since everybody is going to end up buying it, even if its terrible.

 

[daveman247]

Because they wanted to make star wars kinect instead. -_-

At this point i'm not sure making it would be a great idea... i get the feeling it would end up as COD wearing a stormtrooper helmet. I suppose battlefront was battlefield wearing a stormtrooper helmet though.

 

[Veylon]

Well, I seem to remember hearing that Battlefront 2 wasn't that big a success by the standards it required. The "Star Wars" liscence being very expensive and usually coming with a substantial profit sharing arrangement aimed right back at Lucasarts. This is apparently one of the big reasons why "Star Wars Galaxies" was taken down, it wasn't just "The Old Republic" but that so much money and profits were demanded for the Star Wars liscence that a smaller, but dedicated, community couldn't support the game. Star Wars has apparently always been about the liscencing, and at the end if George Lucas wasn't going to be rolling in money, he wasn't really interested, and to be honest as far as a business goes Disney doesn't seem much better.

Let me get this straight. LucasArts - the gaming arm of Lucasfilms, the company that owns Star Wars - can't just go out and make a Star Wars game? I mean, whatever profits LucasArts gets, Lucas gets already, doesn't he? The company is named after him. So there's just some weird bureaucratic accounting thing that's making a hash of recent Star Wars games. Is this right?

 

[Snotnarok]

Lucas Arts managed to not only kill Battlefront 3 but also Free Radical (dev of Timesplitters), they killed the game so it wouldn't compete with the Force Unleashed. Apparently you can also find a lot of footage of the game working fully so...yeah. So there you have it, fuck you take this shitty game over a game you actually wanted basically is the message Lucas Arts delivered that day. I heard other devs had taken a stab at it too and had about the same result.

 

[Fluffythepoo]

Pretty sure its been picked up by like half a dozen different developers, all of whom failed to finish it/stay in business. I mean if you keep paying people to cut your lawn, but no one ever finishes the lawn, youre going to end up with a lawn that hasnt been cut.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

I loved the first two Battlefronts, so another one with the seamless transition between space and ground battle that was announced back when it was actually happening would have been awesome.

Republic Commando should have a sequel too. That was a great shooter.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Before they began to crash, there were three games in development at Lucasarts: Imperial Commando, Battlefront 3, and KOTOR 3. All of these projects were cancelled before 2007, when the company suffered a major economic blow following their renaissance from 2002-2006.

They moved onto new projects, such as the Force Unleashed and increasing focus on the Lego Star Wars label.