Star Wars Battlefront 3 is reportedly back on the table — just without a developer attached to it yet. Lucasfilm is said to be actively searching for a studio willing to build the next entry in the large-scale shooter series, and the two names reportedly circling the project are the series' original studio and one of the most decorated shooter teams in the industry.
The claim comes from the Quartermann column in the latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, which was picked up on Jeff Grubb's Game Mess Mornings podcast. "Others are also telling the Q that Disney has big plans for the Star Wars Battlefront series," the column begins. "Recognizing how EA's Battlefront 2 has sustained popularity that other Star Wars media can only dream of, like Mandalorian and Grogu, you'd think they'd greenlight Battlefront 3 tout de suite. And you'd be wrong."
"According to what your intrepid rumormonger has dug up, the suits at Lucasfilm have been aggressively deploying probe droids for a development partner to take on the task of creating a follow-up," the column continues. "So far, no one has fully stepped up, but yours truly is hearing two major game studios are circling the project like a couple of snowspeeders — led by the completely unsurprising EA DICE, who we can hope learned from their loot box lesson. Duh. We can expect that one."
The column's second name is the surprise. "Here's the other one: There is another. The Quartermann hears that if the Force is not entrusted to DICE, it could land at none other than Halo, Destiny, and Marathon developer Bungie," it reads. Landing at Bungie would take the series outside Electronic Arts entirely, and Grubb himself greeted the idea with some skepticism while discussing the column.
A separate, conflicting claim has also surfaced: Bulkhead Games head Joe Brammer has suggested the game is already in development at DICE with support from Respawn Entertainment. That version sits uneasily next to the column's central point — that Lucasfilm has yet to secure any developer at all — and neither account has been confirmed by Lucasfilm, Disney, EA or Bungie.
If the search is real, it would fit the direction Lucasfilm Games described just this week, with the studio openly widening the range of partners it takes pitches from beyond the biggest publishers.
It would also follow a genuine momentum swing for Star Wars games. The Battlefront series has sold 33 million units combined, Battlefront II rebuilt its reputation after its loot box backlash into a durable multiplayer staple, and newer titles like Star Wars Zero Company and Star Wars: Galactic Racer have shown the license thriving at different scales.
For now, though, Battlefront 3 remains exactly what the column presents it as — a rumor with no studio committed, no production confirmed and no game announced.
Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly via Game Mess Mornings
