Star Wars Battlefront II has experienced some rocky moments during its lifespan, but new player count statistics from SteamDB could indicate a major resurgence. For the first time in over four years, the game has reached nearly 8,000 players, and a larger Star Wars trend, partially sparked by Fortnite, could have something to do with it. Let’s explore everything we know about Star Wars Battlefronts II’s resurgence, including its exact numbers and how this may impact esports.
Star Wars Battlefront II is an FPS title released by publisher Electronic Arts (EA) and developed by DICE. Though the Star Wars franchise has many video game iterations, Star Wars Battlefront II is unique for its competitive options and includes both single-player and multiplayer modes. Players can battle on 23 maps inspired by iconic Star Wars locations like Naboo and Endor, and partner with different Factions on their journey. They can also play as Heroes, specific characters from Star Wars canon who have varied strengths. The game is a successor to 2015’s Star Wars Battlefronts.
Star Wars Battlefront II launched in November 2017 to extremely mixed reviews. The title also stirred controversy in its pre-release Beta, which offered users purchasable loot boxes that provided significant pay-to-win in-game advantages. EA doubled down on the decision in a Reddit AMA on November 12 2017, saying “
The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes” and “we’ll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay.” In an interesting bit of gaming lore, the comment has since become the most downvoted in Reddit history.
Despite its rocky start, the game survived and EA has continued consistently updating it. In summer 2021, its player count began to dwindle, and the game remained at a low popularity for the next four years.
Pictured: SteamDB’ graph showing iStar Wars Battlefront II’s sizeable player count spike. / SteamDB
According to data tracking on SteamDB, Star Wars Battlefront II has multiplied its April 2025 player count seven times over in just a month. The unexpected spike began on May 2 2025, and the game has continued trending positively since. On April 22 2025, Star Wars Battlefront had just 1,072 players online — some of its lowest stats since launch. Less than a month later on May 18 2025, it has skyrocketed to 7,816 players. This indicates an over 600% increase in users during this time period. It also draws extremely close to the game’s all-time peak of 10,489 in January 2021, over four years ago.
Star Wars Battlefront II’s player spike could be part of a greater Star Wars gaming content trend. In May 2025, fellow FPS Fortnite launched its Galactic Battle event, ushering in a major Star Wars collaboration. The game’s entire competitive season has since followed this theme, with X-Wings, lightsabers, TIE Fighters and Force users shaking up its ranked meta. Players can even interact with an AI version of Darth Vader.
Fortnite’s Star Wars collaboration has been extremely successful, and it’s possible that its appearance has reignited interest in themed FPS games from the franchise’s fans. While Fortnite’s Galactic Battle update does include plenty of easter eggs, it’s hard to deny the presence of chug jugs and Hatsune Miku skins takes away from its Star Wars authenticity. Fortnite may be serving as a bridge for a small subset of die-hard Star Wars enthusiasts who enjoy the FPS genre but want a more accurate experience.
Star Wars Battlefront II’s player count increase began on May 2 2025, shortly after Star Wars’ Galactic Battle update released. / SteamDB
One key point supporting this idea is found on SteamDB’s 1-month graph. Star Wars Battlefront II’s player count began rapidly rising on May 2 2025, the exact date that Fortnite’s Galactic Battles season released. Since then, the count has steadily trended in an upwards direction, indicating new players are satisfied with the game and could intend to stay for a long time. It’s possible that even more new players could join once Fortnite Galactic Battle ends on June 7 2025 so they can continue experiencing Star Wars-themed gameplay.
In addition, Star Wars Battlefront II received a large update on April 29, adding “high-agency battles on Hoth, Tatooine, Yavin 4, Death Star II, and – the highly requested location from Star Wars Battlefront (2015) inspired by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – the tropical world of Scarif.” This ‘Battle on Scarif’ update coincided well with Fortnite’s Star Wars collab timing. It could have created the perfect storm for expansion, since Star Wars Battlefront II’s existing player base returned for the new content at the same time an entirely new audience arrived.
In another instance of the stars aligning, a 60% sale also occurred for the game on all platforms from May 1-4, making it much more accessible to all. Usually, Star Wars Battlefront II costs 39.99 USD on Steam, or 5.99 USD a month with an EA Play subscription. In regular circumstances, this makes it difficult for the title to compete with free-to-play FPS alternatives, like Fortnite, Counter-Strike and VALORANT.
Star Wars Battlefront II’s renewed player count is a major opportunity. The onus is now on its developers to ensure the game satisfies new and returning fans, markets itself correctly and can handle more players. If things continue to trend positively, it could reach its launch player count within the next few weeks.
