DICE and Respawn Reportedly Developing Star Wars Battlefront 3

If you've been waiting years for a proper follow-up to the 2017 shooter, this week gave you plenty to think about. Only hours after a report said Disney and Lucasfilm were pushing hard to bring the series back, the head of a real game studio stepped forward with a much bigger claim.

He said DICE and Respawn are already working on Star Wars Battlefront 3. That changes things quite a bit. For many players, this is one of the most anticipated sequels in gaming, so any movement on it gets attention. You went from hearing that a developer was still being sought to hearing that two of EA's biggest studios might already be involved. There's more.

Talk around Star Wars Battlefront 3 also says Disney wants the next game to be far bigger than anything the series has done before.

Some chatter points to roughly double the scope of Star Wars Battlefront II, with a more complete day-one game, new gameplay ideas, and a huge amount of content. None of that has been verified. Still, if the pieces keep lining up, you could be looking at the sequel fans have wanted for almost two decades.

The person making the new claim is the CEO of a studio with experience building multiplayer shooters. Responding to earlier reports about a search for a development partner, he said that, from what he's heard, DICE and Respawn are making Star Wars Battlefront 3, and he isn't sure what that means for Battlefield.

That's a big thing to say in public, especially from someone who runs a development studio. He isn't announcing anything on behalf of the publisher or the license holder, and nobody knows where he got the information. It's still worth noting, even if it can't be verified yet. He talks about the game as something already in production, not an idea being tossed around behind closed doors.

The new studio name is the biggest surprise here. The earlier rumors named DICE and Bungie as the studios in the frame, with the search still ongoing. Now the claim swaps Bungie for Respawn. If that's accurate, it could mean Star Wars Battlefront 3 is further along than those first reports suggested.

The swapped studio name raises questions, but two claims pointing the same way matter.

Maybe a partner has already been picked. Maybe the Bungie detail came from earlier discussions. Or maybe different studios looked at the project at different stages. Nobody can say yet how those pieces fit together, but it stands out that two separate claims landed so close together and both point to the series returning.

Respawn would be an interesting fit. It's the team behind Titanfall, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor, so it already knows how to work with Lucasfilm and has a good grasp of the setting. It has also built some strong combat systems over the years.

Titanfall in particular showed how fast infantry fights can sit alongside enormous machines moving across the same battlefield. Battlefront is built on infantry, vehicles, starfighters, special units, and heroes all fighting in the same match, so you can see where that experience could be useful. That kind of combat would have plenty of room to work in a game this size.

We don't know what the involvement would actually look like. The studio could help with combat, gameplay systems, technology, or another part of development. If the claim is right, DICE could still lead development, with the other team lending its expertise, or the arrangement could take a different form.

Both studios have experience with large-scale combat, though neither role has been confirmed.

None of those responsibilities have been confirmed. Even without those details, the idea carries weight because both studios have a track record with the kind of gameplay the series depends on: large fights, fast movement, and a clear sense of scale. Mixing huge Battlefield-style battles with lessons from Titanfall and the Jedi games is an exciting direction for Star Wars Battlefront 3.

The Battlefield comment is worth a second look, especially since the company behind the franchise is said to have big plans. An earlier report claimed Disney had been watching how popular Star Wars Battlefront II remains and was aggressively looking for a partner to bring the series back.

On top of that, rumors point to a much more ambitious release, with about twice the scope of its predecessor, a broader range of content and gameplay systems, and a game that feels complete at launch instead of needing years of updates to reach its potential. Those details about doubled scope and internal plans still need stronger backing, but they give you a sense of what the company could be aiming for with Star Wars Battlefront 3.

There's apparently a lot of enthusiasm around making the game, with developers eager to get involved and different ideas being discussed to give fans something special. Again, there's no internal design document and no confirmed feature list to point to.

The two reports describe the project differently, so the real status remains unclear.

Nothing about the project's structure or timeline has been shown publicly, so there's still a lot to learn. But if the people behind it are really looking to expand the franchise instead of repeating Star Wars Battlefront II, they could do a lot.

The big unknown is what's happening behind the scenes, because the two reports describe the project a little differently. The first says Lucasfilm has been approaching developers to find a studio that can make a proper sequel, with two studios reportedly showing interest. Then the studio boss says EA teams are already working on Star Wars Battlefront 3.

That could mean the project is further along than the first report implied. It could also mean several different setups have been explored, or that the information comes from different stages of the talks. Neither the publisher nor the license owners have said which studio is involved, so every development claim still counts as a rumor.

Two claims pointing the same way in such a short window is hard to ignore. Nothing is locked in, and every detail about studios, scope, and plans still needs confirmation, but interest in the project is clearly real. What makes this even more interesting is that the people running the franchise seem to see how big it could get again.

Battlefront II's lasting popularity and Kyber mods explain why Disney wants the series back.

Battlefront has long been one of the best-known names in Star Wars gaming, and Star Wars Battlefront II has stayed popular even though it launched back in 2017. Recent reporting named it last year's best-selling Star Wars game, which stands out given how many other Star Wars games have come out since.

It's a multiplayer game close to a decade old that stopped getting major official updates years ago, yet people still buy, play, and support it. That staying power is a big reason Star Wars Battlefront 3 keeps getting more attention. The community has done a lot of the heavy lifting. Kyber, for one, has kept expanding what players can do through custom servers, mods, and community-driven updates.

The Kyber project shows that even without official publisher support, fans keep finding ways to improve the experience, and mods built around Kyber keep the game relevant for new players. That grassroots effort is the kind of demand a rights holder would notice, and it strengthens the case for Star Wars Battlefront 3.

Disney's numbers make it clear why bringing the series back makes sense. Lucasfilm Games vice president Douglas Reilly also mentioned Battlefront recently while discussing the company's gaming plans, calling it one of the most important franchises in Star Wars gaming.

That matters more now that major studios are reportedly in actual discussions, because it suggests the series hasn't been forgotten or dropped. The company is reportedly weighing how to bring it back, which developer could handle the job, and whether it could become one of its major gaming franchises again. If any of this holds up, Star Wars Battlefront 3 could be much closer than it looked a few days ago.