Messy Battlefront Classic Collection Launch Implications

With PC game launches consistently being a catastrophe for years upon years now, it’s no wonder I couldn’t get excited for the announcement of the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection. Developed and published by Aspyr, who were on the hook for the development hell of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II remake, have launched this fresh version of the beloved Star Wars Battlefront I and II, nearing their collective 20th anniversaries. Already concerning fans with troubling development tactics, I waited this launch out and I’m glad I did after hearing the news of its state on launch day. A complete and utter garbage fire.

To entice fans of these games of old, Aspyr spiced up the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection by announcing they included all DLC – some of which was console-exclusive at a time before online gaming was the norm. On top of that, the biggest feature fans could want, dedicated online servers for multiplayer battles of up to 64 players, was confirmed.

So then comes the launch on March 13th, and much to the shock of fans, only THREE servers were reportedly available, with the peak players trying to queue being roughly 10,000. This is an utter calamity for a publisher to not gauge a fanbase. It’s not like the Helldivers 2 launch where unexpected fan demand outweighed the supply, this was a largely hyped release from an established franchise.

The glaring error that Aspyr made in underwhelming multiplayer capabilities doesn’t scratch the surface of what’s wrong with Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection. According to the overwhelmingly negative reviews on Steam, with only 20% positive, other issues include sound bugs, a user interface that’s worse than before, and muddy AI-upscaled textures. It’s hard to get excited for PC releases anymore when even a once-prolific publisher cannot make a 20-year-old game work well on modern computers. What needs to be done to normalize strong PC game launches?