For a long time, fans of Star Wars were irked by the fact that EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront lacked any kind of single-player component. EA never really gave a concrete reason for the lack of single-player, and even The Force Awakens actor John Boyega questioned the company’s decision:

@EAStarWars Will fans get a full on offline story mode? It's more of an enjoyable way to learn controls. — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) March 2, 2016

Finally, EA have revealed why the game shipped without any kind of single-player. In an investors call, EA admitted that the lack of a campaign was so that Battlefront could be released before Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit cinemas.

Executive vice president of EA, Patrick Soderlund, said: “It was a 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”. This seems somewhat ironic, considering Battlefront includes no Force Awakens content aside from the Jakku map pack.

However, Soderlund knows the game was criticised for it and comments on not being happy with the review scores. “I think the team created a really good game based on the premise that we had. Are we happy with the 75 rating? No. Is that something we’re going to cure moving forward? Yes.”

EA has already confirmed Star Wars Battlefront 2, which will feature content from Disney’s new Star Wars movies.

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