The recent launch of the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection by developer Aspyr has been met with significant challenges, as the title quickly became one of the lowest-rated games on Steam due to a myriad of technical issues. With a disheartening approval rating of just 19% from over 4000 reviews, players have voiced their frustrations over server instability, crashing sessions, and a range of performance issues.
In response to the overwhelming negative feedback, Aspyr issued a statement acknowledging the "critical errors" encountered with their network infrastructure upon the collection's release. The developer expressed gratitude towards the Battlefront community for their feedback and outlined their commitment to resolving the high ping, matchmaking errors, crashes, and the absence of servers in the browser. "Since launch, we've been working to address these issues and increase network stability, and we will continue our efforts until our network infrastructure is stabilized to prevent further outages," Aspyr stated, encouraging players to continue reporting any bugs or unexpected behaviors.
The full statement reads as follows:
We'd like to thank the Battlefront community for their overwhelming support and feedback for the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection release.
At launch, we experienced critical errors with our network infrastructure. The result was incredibly high ping, matchmaking errors, crashes, and servers not appearing in the browser.
Since launch, we've been working to address these issues and increase network stability, and we will continue our efforts until our network infrastructure is stabilized to prevent further outages.
Please continue to report bugs, errors, or unexpected behaviors to our support team via our Request Form.
However, the statement from Aspyr has not quelled the dissatisfaction among the gaming community, as it fails to address several other non-server-related complaints that players have raised. Issues such as sound and framerate problems, missing content, inadequate aim assist, and the lack of inverted flight controls have contributed to the poor reception of the collection, which now ranks as the ninth lowest-rated release in Steam history.
The server issues, while significant, are just a part of the problem. There were reports that the game launched with an insufficient number of servers to accommodate its player base, which might have contributed to the "critical error" referenced by Aspyr. Despite some improvements to server functionality, the damage to the game's reputation appears to have been done, with many players opting for refunds. The player count dramatically decreased from almost 10,000 at launch to just under 7,000 by the second day, with indications of further decline.
This isn't Aspyr's first brush with controversy in the Star Wars gaming franchise. The developer previously faced criticism for its handling of the Knights of the Old Republic II remaster, which resulted in a lawsuit over unfulfilled promises regarding DLC. Furthermore, Aspyr was removed from the Knights of the Old Republic remake project, which was subsequently handed over to an internal studio of publisher Saber Interactive.
Aspyr's current predicament with the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection underscores the difficulties in reviving classic games for a modern audience. While early previews and reviews of the game were moderately positive, the reality of the game's performance issues has led to widespread disappointment. The developer's promise to fix the server-related issues is a step in the right direction, but it remains to be seen whether Aspyr will address the multitude of other problems that have marred the collection's launch.
