Multiplayer support for 2004’s Star Wars: Battlefront returns through Steam

By Aaron Mamiit Published April 25, 2023

Multiplayer support returns for the classic Star Wars: Battlefront, released in 2004, just in time for Star Wars Day on May 4.

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Star Wars: Battlefront, similar to the 2015 reboot Star Wars Battlefront, featured multiplayer combat through online play. However, the game used GameSpy, which shut down in 2014, bringing Star Wars: Battlefront‘s multiplayer capabilities down with it.

When Star Wars: Battlefront was re-released on Steam last year, there were certain workarounds to get multiplayer up and running, such as installing a mod or connecting PCs through LAN cables. However, a new update for the game has made things much simpler.

“Online multiplayer on Steam has been added to the game,” said the notes for the most recent update for Star Wars: Battlefront. The Galaxy Multiplayer mode is now able to connect through the Internet option, just like how it is supposed to work.

The update also adds language support for French, Italian, German, Spanish, as well as additional audio support. It was also supposed to address several menu and gameplay issues for different screen sizes, but according to PCGamer, there are issues with this part of the update, as there have been complaints that the game is being locked to 30 fps with broken draw distances.

Following the addition of online multiplayer on Steam, a similar update has been released to the GOG version of Star Wars: Battlefront, according to Eurogamer. With cross-play between Steam and GOG supported, this should increase the chances of players who are looking to join an online game for the classic title.

Final update for Star Wars Battlefront II

The restoration of online multiplayer for the classic Star Wars: Battlefront comes as the sequel to its reboot, 2017’s Star Wars Battlefront II, receives its final free update.

The launch of Star Wars Battlefront II was abysmal, but Electronic Arts and DICE reworked its progression system to give the game a second chance.

The last free update for Star Wars Battlefront II is The Battle on Scarif, which will take players to the setting of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. After its release, there will be no more content updates, though server maintenance, double XP events, and in-game challenges will continue.

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