You'll need an Xbox Live subscription but it looks like in anticipation for the upcoming release of Star Wars Battlefront 2 EA and DICE are offering owners of the first game a free copy of the Season Pass. And if you don't own the game, well there's the Star Wars Battlefront Ultimate Edition for $5.99. Both great deals.

Well, duh. Free is always a great deal! Especially when the game still looks amazing. Here's the trailer for the most recent Death Star DLC add-on.



Links.

Star Wars Battlefront Season Pass
Star Wars Battlefront Ultimate Edition

A lot has happened since we last checked in on Star Wars Battlefront. A new Star Wars: Rogue One-themed expansion is available now for Season Pass holders. As expected it comes packed with content from the new Star Wars film, with a new map and mode centered around climatic events from the movie. For Xbox One and PC players, the game has also been added to the EA and Origin Access subscription services. A year after its initial release. And finally, a free PlayStation VR mission has been released for owners of the game on PS4. Developed by Criterion.

By all accounts, like a lot of VR offerings, it's relatively short. But as it provides an in-cockpit perspective of flying an X-Wing you can be sure that it ticks off a slot on many a VR bucket list.

Here's a trailer for the Rogue One DLC called 'Rogue One: Scarif'.



One thing's for certain, even a year after its initial release, the game still looks amazing.

And deep down we kind of wish that this was part of the game when it launched last year. X-Wing versus Tie Fighter battles in orbit around Star Destroyers. Flying down an incredibly detailed Death Star trench. Boarding the giant battle station to take down its defenses. The goals are not only clear, but they just about sum up the perfect vehicle and on-foot Star Wars experience.

There's no denying that Star Wars Battlefront is visually one of the most impressive games on the market, and the new Death Star DLC continues this trend as the game heads to the stars for the first time. And we really enjoyed the arcade-like fighter controls of the base game, so what we see here looks genuinely exciting.

Plus, Chewbacca.



The new Death Star DLC is out this month as part of the Season Pass.

Because in it, you'll be tasked with blowing up the Death Star. Called Battle Station, this new mode unfolds over three phases with Imperials and Rebels fighting it out in space, aboard the Death Star, and finally back out in trenches as they look to destroy the Empire's ultimate weapon. Spoiler alert, there's a weakness with one of the thermal exhaust ports.



Phase 1 of Battle Station sees Rebels in X-Wings and A-Wings fighting against Imperials TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors around a giant Star Destroyer. The goal for the Rebels here is to destroy enough enemy fighters for Y-Wings to come in and do their thing.

Phase 2 takes place aboard the Death Star, with Rebels tasked with extracting an important droid of sorts. This Phase will also include the new heroes, Chewbacca and Bossk.

Phase 3, the last one, sees the Rebels tasked with taking out the Death Star. And in order to do that they'll need Luke Skywalker in his Red-5 X-wing. Of course on the Imperial side, Darth Vader will be in his special TIE Advanced. Saying stuff like "The Force is strong with this one" and "I have you now!".

The Death Star expansion will become fully operational in September.

Since its release last year, fans have been asking for offline modes for EA and DICE's Star Wars Battlefront. And now it looks like that's finally happening with the introduction of a couple of them next week. That's right, players will be able to take on popular modes Walker Assault and Fighter Squadron either solo or split-screen co-op. Called Skirmish, this new mode will allow people to battle bots across iconic locations like Hoth and Sullust.

This is great news, as the current offline content in Star War Battlefront is lacking to say the least. This wouldn't have been that big of an issue if the game's Survival mode was more than a fairly pointless horde mode. And outside of a handful of training missions there really isn't much to do without a stable internet connection.

Here's hoping this points to a broader range of offline content for 2017's planned Star Wars Battlefront 2. Like say, Walker Assualt and Fighter Squadron style missions with objectives and basic story content.

At this point, for some of us at least, each new bit of DLC content for the entertaining Star Wars Battlefront is more about looking at how great the next iconic Star Wars location looks in-game than what's included. So far each new piece of content for the game has been kind of a let down, a new map or two, some heroes, and a new mode. But with Bespin, we get to see the gorgeous Cloud City brought to life. Plus, the introduction of Lando Calrissian. Yeah it's more of the same, but his Lando-ness alone is enough to get us excited.

Bonus points for including the carbonite chamber with its orange glowing steps of awesome.

Experience new heroes, maps, mode, weapons, star cards and more in the new Bespin digital expansion. Join Lando Calrissian and Dengar in the Cloud City of Bespin. Take flight in a cloud car, journey through Cloud City, navigate carbon-freezing chambers, or hunt enemies with the X-8 Night Sniper and EE-4 blasters.

Star Wars Battlefront: Bespin launches June 21 for Season Pass holders, and then two weeks later for everyone else.

The next DLC expansion headed to Star Wars Battlefront as part of the Season Pass, called Cloud City, will naturally bring Lando Calrissian to the roster of playable heroes. On the Imperial side is the bounty hunter Dengar, who if you remember your Star Wars correctly, was present at the Bounty Hunter Reunion Party that Darth Vader held on his Super Star Destroyer in The Empire Strikes Back.

In addition to the already announced Season Pass stuff, there's also hints at some new free content coming to the game. Including some new offline stuff. Huzzah. Although we don't have any details, it's certainly long overdue.

We also have a couple of surprises in store that we know our fans have been looking for, especially those who have been clamoring for ways to have more options to enjoy Star Wars Battlefront offline.

For a game that looks and feels like classic Star Wars one of the biggest problems with the game as a whole is that there really isn't much to it apart from being a fun and entertaining online shooter. As to what this new offline mode will be, here's hoping it has some form of narrative.

And with May 4th coming up, aka Star Wars Day, EA and DICE are planning to celebrate the day with a few special in0game activities that we should be hearing more about soon.

We now have the skinny on the first expansion pack for Star Wars Battlefront, called Outer Rim. The pack will bring three new maps to the game, a pair of heroes, and a new mode called Extraction. There's also be some new weapons and cards to equip, but no new single-player or co-op content.

The new maps will take place in an industrial facility on Sullust, as well as Jabba's Palace and sail barge garage on Tatooine. As for the heroes, well they're an interesting choice, with "he who mustn't shoot first" Greedo signing up for Imperial duty and Lando's co-pilot, the excitable Nien Nunb fighting for the Rebellion. With all the potential Star Wars characters to choose from, it's hard not to feel a little underwhelmed with these choices.

The new mode being introduced to the game is called Extraction and will see Rebels infiltrating Imperial strongholds to extract a valuable shipment and bring it back to their transport ship. The Imperials will no doubt be tasked with having to stop that from happening. The expansion will also include new weapons and cards including a Relby V-10 rifle, DT-12 blaster pistol, Scatter Gun, Dioxis Grenade, and Adrenaline Stim.

The fact that there still looks to be no real plan to introduce some more or expand on the existing single-player and co-op content, has left a few fans wanting to see more from EA and DICE. Including Star Wars Episode VII's Finn, who took to Twitter to ask that very question.

@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

EA responded, reminding actor John Boyega of the game's Mission mode, to which he replied with the very reasonable criticism that sure, it can be a lot of fun, but leaves you wanting to engage with some form of narrative.

Plus, a whole slew of balances and tweaks. The new map on offer is a nighttime variant of Hoth called Twilight on Hoth and has been added to pretty much all of the modes including Walker Assault, Turning Point, and Fighter Squadron. Speaking of Turning Point, which was the new game mode added with Episode VII-themed Battle For Jakku DLC, that has been expanded to include a number of existing maps. Full patch notes ahead.


Additional Content/Functionality

• General: Jakku DLC Content is being patched into the game, downloading it separately via platform storefronts is no longer required and can be deleted from your hard drives
  
• New Map: Twilight on Hoth added to Walker Assault, Supremacy, Turning Point, Blast, Fighter Squadron, Drop Zone, and Heroes vs. Villains
  
• New Mission: Survival in the Ice Caves added to Survival Missions
  
• Turning Point: Jundland Wastes, Forest of Endor, Outpost Beta, and SoroSuub Centroplex maps added to the playlist
  
• Attract Mode: GNK Droid added - GONK!
  
• Settings: Turning off music in the Sound menu now turns off music everywhere in the game
  
• Settings: Added a Film Grain setting slider in the Video menu
  
• Credits: Updated Game Credits list
  

Weapon and Star Card Changes

• Primary Weapons: Damage against air vehicles increased by 10%
  
• Bowcaster: Explosion damage increased from 10 to 15 per projectile and explosion radius decreased from 3 to 2.5m
  
• Bowcaster: Full charge direct hit from 20 to 40 per projectile and a normal direct hit increased from 20 to 30 per projectile
  
• Barrage: Damage increased from 50 to 55
  
• Barrage: Cooldown reduced from 40 to 35s (normal) and from 35 to 30s (upgraded)
  
• Barrage: First volley of grenades no longer disappear if the user uses the Refresh Power-up and then fires a second volley
  
• Homing Shot: Lock time decreased from 1.5 to 1.2s
  
• Homing Shot: Players in the AT-GAR turret now receive on-screen notification when locked on
  
• ION Torpedo: Speed increased from 350 to 380m/s and turning angle increased from 120 to 125 in order to more easily hit air vehicles
  
• Pulse Rifle: Movement speed while aiming decreased by 30%
  
• Tusken Cycler Rifle: Movement speed while aiming increased by 40%
  
• Tusken Cycler Rifle: Bullet speed increased from 300 to 450m/s
  
• Orbital Strike: Fixed bug where it sometimes would not trigger on button press

Vehicle changes

• A-Wing: Increased hit box size
  
• A-Wing: Now properly takes damage when colliding with an AT-ST while having the Shield active
  
• Slave I: Players can now see the Shield icon on Rebel vehicles when a Shield is active
  
• AT-ST: T-47 Airspeeder kills with a missle while firing the primary cannons at the same time now properly awards a kill (previously registered as a suicide)
  
• AT-AT: Fixed bug where the Orbital Strike ability would sometimes not have the aiming reticle move
  
• T-47 Airspeeder: Players will no longer receive an out of bounds message on Graveyard of Giants during Turning Point when a control point is captured
  

Multiplayer Game Mode Changes

• General: Pre-Round timer lowered from 30s to 20s
  
• Walker Assault: Fixed Power-up spawns on SoroSuub Centroplex
  
• Walker Assault: AT-AT health increased by 18% on Outpost Beta, 8% on Jundland Wastes, 20% on Forest of Endor, 4% on SoroSuub Centroplex, and 5% on Graveyard of Giants
  
• Walker Assault: Spawning as an Imperial Hero after the AT-ATs just pass the second set of uplinks no longer despawns one of the AT-ATs
  
• Walker Assault: The second AT-AT no longer bumps into the wreckage of the other on SoroSuub Centroplex when the first AT-AT is destroyed during the first Uplink
  
• Droid Run: Correct Objective Notification is now displayed to all players if someone is killed while trying to claim the Droid
  
• Droid Run: Improved spawn zones on Dune Sea Exchange
  
• Supremacy: Fixed Power-up spawns on Jundland Wastes, Forest of Endor, and SoroSuub Centroplex
  
• Supremacy: Improved spawn zones on Jundland Wastes, Outpost Beta, and Forest of Endor
  
• Heroes vs. Villains: Planted turrets on Dune Sea Exchange will now disappear in-between rounds
  
• Hero Hunt: Improved spawn zones on Ice Caves
  
• Fighter Squadron: Players are now protected while spawning on Graveyard of Giants
  

Mission Changes

• General: Both players will now properly see Charge Card pick-ups if Player One is using a 3rd Star Card Hand without a Charge Card
  
• General: Player 2's changes to control settings no longer update Player 1's controls when playing Split-Screen
  
• Battle: Fixed AI Spawn issues on Tatooine
  
• Survival: Wave 10 on Sullust will now always spawn if the player / co-op team dies and restarts the round or if a player picks up a Collectible during the Wave 9 transition
  
• Survival: Partner spawns on Sullust will no longer fail if the currently alive player is in a confined area
  
• Survival: Co-Op players can now unlock the "Complete on Hard Difficulty without spending a life" if one player dies and then waits until the other player completes the wave so they get a free respawn
  

Hero changes

• General: Heroes no longer get stuck in a stunned animation state
  
• Princess Leia: Endor outfit updated - Congrats on completing the Lead the Rebellion challenge!
  
• Princess Leia: Trooper Bane now only knocks back primary target, not nearby enemies
  
• Luke Skywalker: Increased Saber Rush's damage against other Heroes from 2% to 6-8%
  
• Luke Skywalker: Lightsaber swing hit radius is reduced from 0.3 to 0.25m
  
• Han Solo: Zooming in no longer sometimes displays a gun scope
  
• Emperor Palpatine's Shocktroopers: Modified primary weapon damage to match Leia's Honor Guards' primary weapon damage over time
  

Misc. Bug fixes

• General: Lighting, textures, audio, user interface, text, and collision fixes
  
• Controls: Legacy control schemes have had their layouts more clearly defined
  
• Colorblind: Enemy players highlighted with Scan Pulse now have the correct Deuteranopia or Protanopia settings on Graveyard of Giants and Goazan Badlands
  
• PC only: Fixed a bug where a player would lose functionality with an Xbox 360 controller after inviting a player to a Private Match and then starting the game
  
• PC only: Air vehicle sensitivity lowered from 0.9 to 0.45 for easier mouse control
  
• Achievements / Trophies: Updated text on "Impressive. Most Impressive." and "Survivor" to clarify the requirements
  
• Achievements / Trophies: "Playing the Objective" now properly awarded
  

And there you have it, definitely an extensive patch. For those of you still playing Battlefront (or if you've stopped) is a new map and revamped playlists enough to keep you playing until the first major bit of DLC? Certainly Battlefront is a divisive game for some, but regardless of your stance it's a genuinely fun multiplayer-focused Star Wars game.

EA has announced details about the future of Star Wars Battlefront, including free content headed to the game tomorrow, plus some early info on what the Season Pass will include. As expected these will be themed packs, with iconic locations like the Death Star, Cloud City, and Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine all catered for. Will we be able to take part in an impromptu trench run? We don't know, but until the first pack hits in March, there will be a bunch of free content.

As mentioned Star Wars Battlefront is getting an update tomorrow, with some of the key additions to the game including:

• New Hoth-themed outfits for Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, so when you take control of these heroes on Hoth they'll look just like they did in The Empire Strikes Back.
  
• The ability to create Private Matches, which naturally would make playing with people you know a lot easier. As to how exactly this will work in relation to the dedicated server model people have been asking for? Well, we'll have to wait and see.
  
• Maps like the Tatooine Survival map (now dubbed Raider Camp) will now support multiplayer modes like Blast, Droid Run, Drop Zone, Hero Hunt, and Heroes vs Villains.
  
• The introduction of Daily Challenges and Community Events, which are aimed around giving players the ability to earn credits and unlocks faster than ever.
  

More details on the new content and the balancing tweaks will be made available in the coming days. Also, more free content is expected in February and March, including a new Survival Mission on Hoth and new large scale multiplayer maps on Hoth and Endor.

Now onto the stuff that we've all been waiting to hear about. Mainly because like a lot of titles these days Season Passes are being sold long before we even know what they'll contain. For Star Wars Battlefront this will be in the form of four separate DLC expansions (that will also be sold separately), all themed around iconic Original Trilogy locations.

Although details on any new modes and features are scarce, we now know a little bit about what's headed to the game throughout this year.

Star Wars Battlefront Outer Rim (March 2016) - Fight among the factories of Sullust and battle within Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine

Star Wars Battlefront Bespin (Summer 2016) - It's hunt or be hunted in this action-packed experience set in the Cloud City of Bespin

Star Wars Battlefront Death Star (Fall 2016) – That’s no moon! One of the most iconic locations in the Star Wars universe makes its debut in Star Wars Battlefront.

Star Wars Battlefront Expansion Pack 4 – Title TBA (Early 2017)

Star Wars Battlefront and the Season Pass are available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Which you can check out on the Star Wars Battlefront career page right now, which tracks player progression for the title's many unlocks. Now we know that in the retail release the super-handy Jump Pack won't unlock until you reach Level 13. Plus at Level 32 you can pick up a Bowcaster -- the weapon of choice for the discernible Wookiee.

You'll need an EA/Origin account in order to check out the career page, but then again you'll need one of those to play the final release too (on PC at least). Probably the coolest bit of news from this full reveal is the fact that the Slave I (i.e. Boba Fett's spaceship) will be one of the vehicles you'll get to pilot/control.

Here's a list of the vehicles on offer.



The power ups.



The blasters.



And finally, star cards.



There's more info at the career page, including additional power-ups. In addition to the site you can track stats as well as play custom card game Base Command via the Star Wars Battlefront companion app available now on the Apple Store and Google Play.

The game releases November 17 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Okay so before you call the apostrophe police with a complaint along the lines of "but officer, this is the umpteenth video for the game he's posted" you should at least hear me out. You see, Star Wars Episode VII is out on December 17, and it's basically a movie you'd actually kill to see. And The Battle of Jakku is a free DLC map coming to Star Wars Battlefront featuring a location from the movie that will be made available around the time the movie comes out. A movie that again, I would actually kill to see. So, you're probably better off calling the real police.

As for the trailer, it looks pretty awesome. At this point I'd basically watch a whole movie made entirely from Star Wars Battlefront footage/engine-stuffs. It just looks that good.

And by right cards we mean capturing the look and feel of the original trilogy better than any game ever released. Visually, there's no doubt that Star Wars Battlefront looks the business, and this cinematic trailer more than sells the amazing work done by developer DICE. If anything it kind of makes you feel a little upset that the game is being released without a story-driven campaign mode.

Exactly what that campaign would entail doesn't really matter, and based on this trailer it could just be a string of missions that play like absurd fan fiction. Plus, one assumes that the trailer was made using in-game assets, an impressive feat. We get to see the full roster of heroes and villains on offer, including a very cool sequence involving Princess Leia and Boba Fett. Check it out.



Star Wars Battlefront will be out on November 17th on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

In the public beta we all got to see Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in action, with some of you even becoming expert practitioners in the ancient art of force-choking. And with the full game release less than a month away, we know now the full line-up of Heroes and Villains that we can expect to see in the final game. There will be three a side, and joining Luke on the goody goody side of things will be a certain Princess and a Correlian-raised smuggler. And joining Darth Vadesy and Bobby Fett, will be an old man in a robe.




Playing as Princess Leia puts players in the role of a natural born leader, with support abilities like an Enhanced Squad Shield and access to Supply Drops to help out teammates. In fact, those that spawn close to Princess Leia will spawn as Alderaan Honor Guards, no doubt a position held in much higher regard than a regular old Rebel Grunt. You can read more about playing as Leia Organa here.



Everybody loves Han Solo, so much so that it doesn't bother them that he shot poor Greedo first. A Rodian who's only crime was trying to claim a bounty on Solo's head on behalf of Jabba the Hutt. Another misunderstood figure in the Star Wars universe. Anyway, playing as Han Solo will of course mean wielding his patented Blaster Pistol and firing it in a heat-free Rapid Fire mode. Also, he'll come equipped with a Shoulder Charge move that sounds a little like football until you realise it's based on that one moment in Episode IV where Han charges after a group of Stormtroopers aboard the Death Star. You can find out more about Han the Man here.



Finally, rounding out the Villains and joining the ranks of Darth Vader and Boba Fett will be Emperor Palpatine. And nothing says Dark Side of the Force more than a dose of Force Lightning which Palpatine will definitely have at his disposal, plus the upgraded Chain Lighting which can hit multiple foes at once. Read more about the former senator turns Evil Galactic Emperor here.

Finally, more details have been revealed about the specific Heroes vs Villains mode, where two teams of six spawn (with three on each team randomly spawning as one of the heroes or villains) to fight it out in short, intense, power-filled fights.

Playing into nostalgia is a marketing tactic that has been used for years, decades even. There was even a Mad Men episode that dealt with this very personal, and seemingly manipulative approach to marketing. And that was set in the 1960s, long before stuff like Star Wars, Transformers, and Teenage Turtle People existed. So why then is the new ad for Star Wars Battlefront so effective? Well, when nostalgia works it works. As in the water-works begin. Excuse me for a moment, I seem to have something stuck in my eye.




Now, the video of course is pretty light game footage. Or even letting you know what the game is about. And after watching it you'd probably be thinking that Star Wars Battlefront was an aerial combat game set in the Star Wars universe. But that doesn't matter, as it completely sells the idea that Battlefront aims to capture that Star Wars feel. Which in this case is the fun, spectacle, and imagination that was sparked by three films from 1977 - 1983.

With a new Star Wars movie on the horizon there's no doubt that this holiday season everything Star Wars is going to be big -- and Star Wars Battlefront looks to be coming out at the right time. With the beta recently wrapping up, and drawing over 9 million players, you can be sure that it's going to be a hit. Also, 9 million! That's one hell of a stress test.

Considering the number of players taking part, it's pretty impressive that outside of some minor incidents, there were very little load issues. In fact the beta was a huge success, with a number of people being able to hop in and out of games at will.

We could not be happier that so many of you wanted to come in to get a small taste of what our passionate team has been working on. Ever since we revealed Star Wars Battlefront back in April, we knew the beta would be a huge test for our game. After all, the beta has been one of the most talked about topics around the game over the last six months, and it was exciting (and a little nerve racking if I’m being completely honest) to open it up to the world.

And like Han Solo at the end of A New Hope, we’re glad you showed up. Even more importantly than just showing up, you’ve been spending a lot of time playing, having a great time and leaving us some invaluable feedback, as we continue to tune and balance the game until launch.

And to wrap things up EA and DICE have outlined (only in minor detail) each of the mission types and multiplayer modes on offer. So now all the greyed out parts of the menu make a little more sense.

It's finally here! After months of drooling at screenshots and videos, Star Wars Battlefront has finally entered into its Open Beta phase. That's right, open in this instance actually means that everyone can try their hand at taking part in the quasi-Battle For Hoth (called Walker Assault) and other game modes. Available on console, and Origin for PC, be sure to check it out. As it'll only be available this weekend. Oh, and be sure to let us know what you think.

As for me, I had the chance to play it for a few days and it's certainly a lot of fun. But, not exactly what I was expecting. Relegating vehicles and other abilities to in-game power-ups that you can collect and then activate is an interesting mechanic and lends itself well to the pick-up-and-play style. I was jsut hoping that you could run into a hanger and then hop into an X-Wing and take off. Oh well, maybe another game mode will have that.

Visually though, its classic Star Wars through and through. And just about peerless.

And you'll need "at least 40 GB of free space". Plus, all the other components that make up a PC. Like a monitor so you can see the game, and speakers or headphones so you can listen to it too. Announced via EA's Origin service we now know what the minimum and recommended PC hardware requirements for Star Wars Battlefront look like -- with all the important CPU, GPU, and RAM requirements detailed.

Minimum PC System Requirements

OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or later
Processor (Intel): Intel i3 6300T or equivalent
Memory: 8GB RAM
Hard Drive: At least 40 GB of free space
Graphics card (NVIDIA): nVidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB
Graphics card (ATI): ATI Radeon HD 7850 2GB
DirectX: 11.0 Compatible video card or equivalent
Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection

Recommended PC System Requirements

OS: 64-bit Windows 10 or later
Processor (Intel): Intel i5 6600 or equivalent
Memory: 16GB RAM
Hard Drive: At least 40 GB of free space
Graphics card (NVIDIA): nVidia GeForce GTX 970 4GB
Graphics card (AMD): AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB
DirectX: 11.1 Compatible video card or equivalent
Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection

Now, if looking at the recommended specs makes your water-cooled PC laugh at the paltry numbers being thrown around you're probably going to be fine. But for those of us with GPU's that don't end in 'GTX' now's probably the time to upgrade.

There was a Star Wars Battlefront preview event last week, where games journalists and youtubers alike got the opportunity to ask DICE staff pressing questions. One question more than one person asked related directly to micro-transactions -- the big news this morning was a story on Gamespot claiming that Battlefront doesn't have them.

When asking about micro-transactions, Niklas Fergraeus, Design Director on the game, indicated that players would not be able to purchase credits with real world money.

Gamespot: So, is that the only way you can obtain credits? By earning them by performance?

Niklas Fergraeus: Yes, that's what's in the game. Absolutely.

In another interview, however, conducted by genius reviewer and brilliant interviewer Joab Gilroy for Games On Net, Fergraeus expertly dodged answering the question.

Games On Net: In Battlefield games there has been the option to shortcut by purchasing the Engineer pack, or something like that. Is that going to be an option you guys are exploring for Battlefront with the cards?

Niklas Fergraeus: When it comes to any type of post-launch support we don’t have anything to talk about, but we of course want to support the game after it launches.

Does this mean there are micro-transactions in Star Wars Battlefront for sure? No. But let's not kid ourselves -- they called the gear system in the game "Cards" and they want you to build a hand containing your perfect combination of items. Can you buy the in-game currency with real-world money? No, not according to the Gamespot interview. But when asked about card packs instead, Fergraeus answered with the video game equivalent of 'no comment'. Not a categorical shutdown of the idea, an evasion.

You can read the full interview excerpt over on Games On Net, where you can also see Editor-In-Chief Tim Colwill's thoughts on the matter.

Get ready to test the power of your Schwartz, Star Wars fans. The official Star Wars website has revealed the dates for the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront beta. It's only set to run for a tidy four days, kicking off on the 8th of October and coming to a close on the 12th of October.

The beta will be available for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with three playable modes. There's a Survival Mission on Tatooine, which is the mode that can be played alone or with one other player. I played it at Gamescom, and it's a bit meh. Hopefully, EA has added a bit more variety for this mode for the beta (and beyond).

Walker Assault on Hoth is the mode that was showcased at E3 and was part of the alpha test. I played that at Gamescom, too, and it's freakin' awesome. I didn't even get to use any vehicles, and I still had a great time. It's the biggest mode in Battlefront, pitting 20 Rebels against 20 Imperials, with the goodies tasked with attacking AT-ATs and the baddies in charge of defending them.

The third and final mode on offer is Drop Zone on Sullust. This is the new mode that was announced shortly after Gamescom so, as far as I'm aware, no-one outside of DICE and EA has played it yet. It's a smaller mode, with an 8v8 foundation, as teams fight to control specific escape pods, which promises to keep combat focused around a single objective.

For more on Star Wars Battlefront, you can read my preview here.