Classic Star Wars Battlefront Re-Release Flops on Steam

The remastered edition of the classic Star Wars: Battlefront games had a bad start this week, with the Star Wars: Episode IX trailer proving to be a mixed bag. When Battlefront Classic Collection first launched there were virtually no online multiplayer servers available. On launch day, players eager to revisit the classic Star Wars shooters were greeted by massive capacity issues and widespread server issues.

A Disturbance in the Force

According to reports from frustrated players, developer Aspyr had just three servers online when the collection went live across PCs and consoles. With each server capped at 64 players, that meant a paltry 192 total multiplayer slots available at launch for the newly released compilation. Demand for space in online matches, meanwhile, was estimated to be in the tens of thousands of players.

On PC alone, over 9,000 players had the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection loaded up simultaneously within hours of release, based on SteamDB stats. With such an infinitesimal number of servers compared to the player population trying to join, it’s no surprise that accessing online multiplayer proved to be an exercise in frustration.

The dev team at Aspyr did eventually add more servers in the hours following the launch. However, players reported that even the expanded number of hosts suffered from horrible latency, stuttering performance, and obvious clipping issues that made online matches choppy and unenjoyable.

The Ability to Destroy a Planet is Insignificant

Sadly, the lack of available servers was far from the only issue plaguing the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection at launch. It seems Aspyr failed to properly adjust certain gameplay parameters for the increased 64-player player counts in multiplayer matches.

In the original games, battles involved a maximum of 32 players per side. But in the remastered collection, the ticket system that tracks score and determines when a match is over was not updated for the doubled player counts. As a result, matches are ending abruptly after just a few minutes as the Victory conditions are met far too quickly with 64 players racking up kills and points.

Other issues range from crashes when searching for specific online modes, to an outdated and awkward menu system on PC that players had hoped would be overhauled for the re-release. Bugs and glitches of all kinds are widespread across the collection’s multiplayer component according to reports.

The Steam User Reviews Don’t Lie

In light of all the technical problems and lack of server capacity, it’s no surprise that the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection has been overwhelmingly negatively reviewed on Steam in its launch window. Recently, only 21% of user reviews across over 1,300 submissions gave the game a positive rating.

“Was only able to join one Heroes VS Villains match and the Heroes side was completely broken. No one could join the Heroes team which resulted in no one to fight against,” lamented one disappointed player.  

Another user warned “After two hours they finally launched the servers, and they are TERRIBLE. Horrible ping, stuttering, and by tomorrow cheaters will be rampant.”

With such a large portion of the negative feedback focused on the server and online issues, it’s clear Aspyr severely underestimated the pent-up demand and hype surrounding this high-profile remaster of beloved shooters. Hopefully, more server capacity and patches to address technical problems are on the way soon.

A New Hope for Aspyr?

While the launch day woes have soured the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection’s debut for many, the situation is not necessarily lost. If Aspyr can quickly implement fixes, add sufficient server infrastructure, and get the multiplayer functioning properly, they may still be able to win back players looking to relive the nostalgic glory of these classic games.

The single-player content is at least unaffected by the server problems. So those solely interested in the offline modes have been able to dive in without issue. But for the large segment of the audience craving online battles across classic maps like Hoth, Endor, Kashyyyk, and more, Aspyr will need to pull off an impressive technical recovery over the coming days and weeks.

Only time will tell if this remastered collection will be able to rally and join the ranks of other successful reboots and remasters of beloved franchises. Or if it will instead be remembered as another catastrophic follow-up that failed to stick the landing and live up to the legendary source material. May the Force be with the developers this time.