Why Star Wars: Battlefront Did Not Have a Single-Player?

Was it because DICE doesn’t like making single-player scenarios? Or because a story was nonexistent in the first place? Unfortunately, none of the two. The campaign mode of Star Wars: Battlefront was removed by EA, to synchronize the game’s release with The Force Awakens’ launch date; states Patrick Soderlund, Executive Vice President of EA.

At EA’s Investor Day event, Soderlund commented about the issue further:

The one thing that we got criticized for was the lack of a single-player campaign. It was conscious decision we made due to time and being able to launch the game side-by-side with the movie that came out to get the strongest possible impact. I think the team created a really good game based on the premise that we had. I would say the game has done very well for us and reached a very different demographic than a traditional EA game. So from that perspective, it’s a success. Are we happy with the 75 rating? No. Is that something we’re going to cure going forward? Absolutely.

Is that a relief (because the troublesome relationship between DICE and campaign scenarios), or a hindrance (because a Star Wars shooter with a story in Frostbite engine would be awesome)? Well that is difficult to tell. But in general, dissecting a game because of non-aesthetical but financial interests is an unnerving thing, let’s all admit that.