Star Wars: Battlefront II almost had way more Overwatch-style hero skins

During the development of Star Wars: Battlefront II (read our review), developer DICE began work on a mode that played like Overwatch and featured a similar business model to Blizzard’s team-based hero shooter, according to sources familiar with the production (who asked that I not print their names or titles to protect their employment). The mode would have focused on teamwork and squad composition, and — more importantly — it would have favored cosmetic items like hero costumes in its loot boxes over perks and weapons. Most of these ideas were dropped from Battlefront II due, at least in part, to a request from Disney’s Star Wars division Lucasfilm.

I’ve contacted Electronic Arts and Lucasfilm to ask if they would like to comment for this story. Neither company responded to multiple requests. I will update this post if either company decides to provide more information.