Summary
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collectionwas set to be a boost of nostalgia for fans of classicStar Warsgames by delivering remasters of the originalStar Wars: Battlefrontgames to players on modern platforms. While many players were ready to relive the epic space battles of these fan-favorite titles, the launch ofStar Wars: Battlefront Classic Collectionhas been fraught with controversy surrounding the poor state of the collection’s multiplayer features on PC. The result has turned what was supposed to be the release of two belovedStar Warstitles on modern platforms into a disappointment for manyStar Wars: Battlefrontfans.
TheoriginalStar Wars: Battlefrontwas released back in 2004for PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, with its sequel released the following year. While the series has undergone a soft reboot with the release of 2015’sStar Wars: Battlefrontand its 2017 sequel, many fans still consider the originals to be the superior games in most ways. A major component of the success of these classic titles was their multiplayer modes, which offered players the chance to play as their favorite faction in a large-scale combat setting, a feature that has failed to live up to many players' expectations in this new release.
Therelease ofStar Wars: Battlefront Classic Collectionhas been rough, to say the least, with PC players in particular seeming to be the worst affected. PC players hoping to jump into an online match onStar Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection’s launch day were greeted by the baffling realization that the game seemingly only had three available servers, capped at a maximum of 64 players each. Given the thousands of players who purchased the game upon its release, there clearly would not be enough server capacity for every player wanting to join a multiplayer match.
To make matters worse, this three-server limit only applied toStar Wars: Battlefront 2, just one part of the whole packageStar Wars: Battlefront Classic Collectionoffered. The other half of this collection, the originalStar Wars: Battlefront, was in an even worse state, apparently lacking any multiplayer servers at all. The backlash from fans who were excited to replay these titles earned the game Overwhelmingly Negative reviews on Steam, which included complaints that went beyond the game’s lack of servers, such as missing cutscenes forStar Wars: Battlefront 2, a frame rate locked at 30fps, and a massive 60-70 GB download requirement.
Developer Aspyr’s Statement Might Not Be Enough to Appease Players
Following the launch-day backlash,developer Aspyr released a statementclaiming errors at launch prevented servers from appearing in the game’s browser, promising to address the issues of network stability and increase the online infrastructure to accommodate the large number of players trying to get into multiplayer matches. Additionally, more servers were made available throughout the day, but there was still not a sufficient number to accommodate the nearly 10,000 concurrent Steam players. While there is still a chance for Aspyr to correct this mistake, a lot of the goodwill of the fan base is likely to have already been lost.
Aspyr is no stranger to theStar Wars: Battlefrontseries, having worked alongside the original developer Pandemic to port the 2004 title to Mac systems.Star Warsfans might also recallAspyr’s involvement with theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicremake, wherein the project was taken from the developer and given to Saber Interactive after Sony was reportedly dissatisfied with Aspyr’s work on the project. However, Aspyr’s work on the acclaimedTomb Raider 1-3 Remasteredshows the developer has the ability to successfully revive classic games, hopefully pointing towards a turnaround forStar Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection.
