Star Wars Battlefront has been a controversial series ever since EA revived the classic FPS franchise. 2015's Star Wars Battlefront received some praise for its visuals. But, it wasn't seen in a great light by fans of the classic Star Wars games. 2017's Star Wars Battlefront II received similar criticism at launch. Through updates, the game would see a huge explosion in popularity and would quickly become an underrated fan-favorite that continued to receive updates up until May of last year.
With how Battlefront II renewed excitement for the series, rumors of a possible Star Wars Battlefront 3 have been popping up more recently. There have also been leaks that may have even given fans a preview of what to expect. Battlefront 3 hasn't currently been announced, but there are some possible rumors.
As far as the general public is aware, EA still has the publishing rights to any future Battlefront games, even though new teams are entering the fray. There may be more news on this front in the future. After all, the possibility does exist that Battlefront 3 may be shifted to the newly rebranded Lucasfilm Games. It should also be noted that the original Battlefront games were not developed internally by LucasArts.
As for leaks, there have been two primary sources of supposed insider information which included release dates for the game and brief outlines of possible features. Both leaks were originally in the form of Reddit posts but have since been proven false. The first leak was suggested a hypothetical late 2023 release date for the game, alongside an official announcement on April 20. No such announcement took place.
The second leak has yet to be fully disproven, though plenty of doubt has been cast on it by others in the industry. This Reddit leak outlined several features for the game, including that Ahsoka Tano is a significant character, and that space and land battles would be combined into one mode. The Reddit user included a supposed map for an in-development version of Coruscant that was later shown to be a free 3D model from the website Sketchfab.
That doesn't mean that Battlefront 3 isn't in development. Notable gaming insiders including Jeff Grubb have made claims that the game is in the works. It's likely that there is some development being done on the title, but the exact details seem to be unknown. One thing for fans to keep an eye on are rumors surrounding EA's other flagship multiplayer FPS, Battlefield 6. DICE is currently the development team behind both Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefield. So, if Battlefield 6 is announced first, then Battlefront 3 could be a few years away.
There are more signs pointing towards Star Wars Battlefront 3. Actors from Battlefront 2's story, TJ Ramini and Anthony Skordi, revealed via social media posts that they are currently doing motion capture and voice work for a new project. The nature of this is unknown, so it could just be another cinematic video game. But, it could also suggest that Battlefront 3's story may continue Battlefront II's campaign.
Outside of the rumors and leaks, fans should be cautiously optimistic that many of the changes that were added post-launch to Battlefront II will persist into Battlefront 3. The most notable change that will hopefully still be in effect is the lack of microtransactions. In-game purchases continue to be a heavily disliked feature that still finds its way into blockbuster releases. Unless EA wants a repeat of Battlefront II's controversial launch, they should stay as far away from microtransactions as they can.