It was no surprise, then, when Electronic Arts and DICE announced an open beta for one of this year’s most highly-anticipated titles, Star Wars Battlefront. As EA revealed a few weeks ago, the Star Wars Battlefront beta will be open to all players, and will give fans of the franchise a chance to test a couple of the game’s multiplayer modes, as well as its offline offerings.
In preparation for the start of the beta on October 8th, EA has confirmed the size of the beta, which will be around 7GB on PS4 and Xbox One, and 11GB on PC. Additionally, the developer revealed that PC gamers can pre-load the beta on their systems beginning at 4:00 AM ET on October 7th from the Origin store.
The size of the Star Wars Battlefront beta download is telling, as it gives players an idea of what to expect when they jump into the beta and begin playing. Some developers provide a very robust experience that requires gamers to complete a large download, while others stick to a smaller file size in order to focus on only a few aspects of the game.
In the case of Star Wars Battlefront, it seems EA is aiming for a simple experience for gamers that should be enough to whet their appetites without the developer having to put too much into the beta. The 7GB download on consoles is a little less than half that of the recently completed Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 beta download size, which clocked in around 15GB. Gamers can predict, then, that where the Black Ops 3 beta was very detailed, chances are the Star Wars Battlefront beta will focus less on high-res visuals, and instead center around the game’s unique, fast-paced gameplay.
It won’t be surprising if EA keeps the visuals to a minimum for the Star Wars Battlefront beta. The developer did something similar with their Battlefield 4 beta a couple years ago before they launched the military shooter. The graphics in the Battlefield 4 beta left a lot to be desired, but the gameplay was compelling enough to draw strong sales. If EA does something similar with the Star Wars Battlefront beta, hopefully the team there won’t botch the official release like they did with Battlefield 4.
What do you think about the file size for the Star Wars Battlefront beta? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Star Wars Battlefront is set to release November 17, 2015 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
