Embattled Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection developer Aspyr has released the game's first post-launch update.
28.02.2024 - 11:49 / ign.com / Kit Fisto
For so many gamers of a certain age, the debut trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, unveiled during the recent Nintendo Direct, rekindled memories of hours spent fighting as soldiers in the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire on the likes of Endor and Hoth in the mid-2000s. But for one modder, it rekindled an altogether different memory: of their own mod.
In time-honoured Star Wars tradition, first some background. The original, Pandemic-developed Battlefront 2 that launched in 2005 had a DLC pack exclusive to the original Xbox version. This DLC added two new heroes (Kit Fisto and Asajj Ventress), as well as four maps. Both Kit and Asajj had unique animations and moves no other characters had. But this DLC was exclusive to the Xbox version, which meant it never released for PC.
Fast forward to 2021 and modder iamashaymin did what modders do and brought the DLC to PC, reskinning two existing characters to look like Kit and Asajj (Ki Adi Mundi for Kit Fisto and Aayla Secura for Asajj Ventress). To the naked eye, the modded Kit and Asajj look like their DLC counterparts. But eagle-eyed players knew they had the same default animations and attacks as the other heroes. This means that in the mod, Asajj does not hold her unique Linksabers (fiber cord-linked twin red lightsabers added especially for her in the DLC) in one hand, but instead wields two separate lightsabers, one in each hand, like Aayla does in the original game. Similarly, Kit fights like Mundi. Still, the mod proved popular with the Star Wars Battlefront community and found an audience.
Redditors noticed it first. TMT-MrExcitement said the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection trailer, below, suggests players will not get the original Xbox DLC. Rather, it looks like developer Aspyr used iamashaymin’s mod, lifting it from ModDB, to create the models for Kit and Asajj. What’s worse is iamashaymin reckons the version of the mod used in the game is outdated.
How do people know this? In an interview with IGN, iamashaymin explained. “I was actually fast asleep when the trailer dropped and awoke to complete chaos as everyone was messaging me about it, telling me that something about it was important for me to see,” iamashaymin said. “Upon watching the trailer for the first time, a detail I noticed pretty quickly is whenever Asajj Ventress appeared she was holding two lightsabers in either hand exactly like Aayla Secura.”
As mentioned, the original Pandemic-created DLC Asajj Ventress uses the unique Linksabers weapon, which is basically lightsaber nunchucks. Riffing on this weapon, Ventress’ movement and combat is based on real-world martial arts. For example, she holds one lightsaber under her right armpit and the other in her right
Embattled Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection developer Aspyr has released the game's first post-launch update.
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection hasn't had what anyone could call a good start, launching with major server issues and an enormous file size around eight times the size of both original games put together. Now, though, it's also been claimed that there's another large problem – allegedly, the collection launched with fan-made mod content included, which hasn't been credited.
The recently released Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection may still be using a fan mod for its bonus content, as claimed by the person who originally made it. When it was announced that longtime Star Wars PC port developer Asypr was bringing the first two Battlefront games to modern hardware in the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection, fans were excited. This only increased when it was revealed that the collection would also feature the Xbox-exclusive DLC for Star Wars Battlefront 2, which allowed players to take control of Clone Wars-era fan favorites Asajj Ventress and Kit Fisto.
The features iconic characters from both the original and prequel eras of. is a remake of the original and from the 2000s, with notable improvements to the same maps and game modes. The reviews for the remaster have been mostly negative thus far, with some praise for the single-player but heavily criticizing the poorly optimized multiplayer.
A veteran Star Wars: Battlefront modder has dug further into the recently released Classic Collection and uncovered more evidence that the controversial release used their mod despite developer Aspyr promising it wouldn’t.
A modder has claimed that Aspyr used their work in Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection without credit.
The fan-pleasing launch of Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection has descended into despair, as gamers eager to enjoy the early 2000s multiplayer games once more on modern systems have instead found the game’s launch to be plagued by server issues and other troubles. Aspyr has quickly addressed some of the issues, and issued a statement on the problems the game faced.
Pandemic Studios' classic games are beloved within the fanbase, and so when it was announced that Aspyr would be bringing them to modern platforms in the to celebrate the titles' 20th anniversary, many fans were excited to jump back in. Unfortunately, the launch has been disastrous, resulting in massive fan backlash.
The fan-pleasing launch of Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection has descended into despair, as gamers eager to enjoy the early 2000s multiplayer games once more on modern systems have instead found the game’s launch to be plagued by server issues and other troubles. Aspyr has quickly addressed some of the issues, and issued a statement on the problems the game faced.
Despite the initial excitement surrounding the remastered versions of the classic games, fans are expressing their frustration over the games' surprisingly large file size. The has already caused a great deal of controversy amongst its player base due to its disastrous launch which exposed fans to bugs, server issues, and a multiplayer mode that was effectively unplayable for most of the community. The game's situation is only getting worse as fans are now questioning why it needs to take up so much storage space.
The is available now for PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5. The Collection features the original Star Wars: Battlefront From 2004 and Battlefront II from 2005.
The Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection launched today and shocked players as they discovered it requires at least eight times more storage than the originals did combined.