EA Studios boss Patrick Soderlund reveals why Star Wars Battlefront didn't have a single player campaign, and teases that the sequel will address that issue.

Star Wars Battlefront was one of the most anticipated games of last year, but it launched to somewhat mixed reviews. Critics complained that the game didn't seem to have enough content to justify its price tag, with many blaming its lack of a single player campaign for its content deficiency. EA's Patrick Soderlund acknowledged this during the EA Investor Day event, and explained why Star Wars Battlefront shipped without a single player campaign.

According to Soderlund, it was all about time constraints. In order to make sure that Star Wars Battlefront launched in time for The Force Awakens, the decision was made to abandon any real semblance of a story mode. This makes good business sense, as The Force Awakens rejuvenated public interest in Star Wars in a major way, helping Star Wars Battlefront become a massive sales success when it launched last November.

While EA is undoubtedly pleased with Battlefront's sales success, the company is not impressed with its review aggregate score. Right now, the game is sitting at a 75 rating on MetaCritic, which Soderlund says EA is "not happy about." However, he went on to promise that 2017's Star Wars Battlefront sequel will "cure" the previous game's lukewarm critical reception.

It's looking like this means Force Awakens star John Boyega will get his wish for Star Wars Battlefront 2 to have a story mode. To that end, Soderlund went on to say that EA is going to provide "depth and breadth" for all the new shooter games it builds, indicating that fans can expect all future shooters from EA to have both multiplayer and single player components.

We're already seeing EA hold true to that promise. While the first Titanfall was multiplayer-only, Titanfall 2 will have a single player campaign. Likewise, the upcoming Battlefield 1 from DICE has a campaign as well, though it is rumored to only be six missions long. Still, some may think that a short single player campaign is better than no campaign at all.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 having a single player campaign would be a step in the right direction, but DICE would also need to address other complaints people had with the studio's first Battlefront effort in order to do better with the critics. For example, the lack of space combat has been a common complaint, as has some game modes feeling unbalanced. If DICE is able to rectify these issues with Star Wars Battlefront 2, it could turn out to be one of the best Star Wars games we've seen yet.

Star Wars Battlefront is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: GameSpot