Well, now we know. After yesterday’s tease regarding Star Wars: Battlefront, EA have now confirmed everything we’ll be getting in the free January update, as well as a few details on their plans regarding further post game content.
First things first though. In the January update (coming today), fans can expect the ability to play certain online modes on the Tatooine survival map, which was previously only available through the single player mode. We’ll also be getting new outfits for Han and Luke, based on their Hoth get-ups from the start of Empire Strikes Back. They certainly look… cool.
In addition, there’ll be new daily events and community challenges, designed to help players rank up faster if they meet specific objectives during play, and the ability to create private matches to play with friends. Because strangers are lame.
There’ll also be tweaks to general gameplay and weapons, as well as a de-powering of Han and Bobba Fett, making it so they deal less damage from a distance and restoring balance to the gameplay (and therefore the Force).
Not content with leaving it there, EA have kindly filled us in on what else we can expect in the coming months. February will see another free update, including new single player and multiplayer maps for Hoth. The 40 player Turning Point mode will also be made available to all maps that support Walker Assault at this time.
Come March, we’ll be getting another Endor map, and a new survival mission for Tatooine, also free of charge.
Now, for anyone who happened to fork out for the Season Pass, we know a little bit more about what you’ll be getting. In March you’ll be able to duke it out in Jabba’s palace, sometime in Summer you’ll be hiding away from the sunshine enjoying matches set in Cloud City (please give us Lando as a hero), and by the time Autumn comes around, the Death Star will be an available map.
There’s also one more paid update set for early 2017, but EA are staying tight-lipped about that one till closer to the time. Till then, there’s more than enough to be getting on with.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.