Last weekend we saw the first teaser for EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront 2, developed primarily by Battlefield developer DICE along with help from Criterion Games. Ahead of the reveal we presented a list of reasons why the game needed VR support. Now Criterion has dropped a big hint suggesting that we might well get it.
Speaking in a recent interview with Eurogamer, the developer’s Matt Webster simply noted: “We are not talking about VR at the moment for Battlefront 2. That’s a story for another day…”
That certainly makes it seem like some sort of VR support is in the works for the huge new shooter, which builds on the 2015 original with a single-player campaign and multiplayer battles across all eras of the famous film saga. But it remains to be seen exactly what form any VR support could take.
Battlefront is no stranger to VR support. Late last year Criterion released a free add-on to the PlayStation 4 version of the original game. It was a PlayStation VR (PSVR) exclusive single-player mission in which players hopped into the iconic X-Wing spaceship and went on a rescue mission that tied into the events of last year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
It was a great experience, but very separate from the main game, which offered huge multiplayer battles. We’d love to see a deeper integration with Battlefront 2, though that’s obviously a much bigger challenge than creating a separate VR exclusive mission. Still, with the sequel set to place a bigger emphasis on space battles, there’s plenty of opportunities to slip VR support into individual segments of the game.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is hitting on November 17th on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. VR support would a heck of a surprise for E3 in two months’ time, and maybe even challenge Fallout 4 as the biggest game for headsets on the horizon.
