Star Wars Battlefront 2 has hidden character customization, according to dataminer

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No pink Darth Vader is depicted in the video, though.

Despite EA CEO Blake Jorgensen stating this week that Star Wars Battlefront 2 doesn't have cosmetic customisation for fear of violating the canon, it appears the game does have that functionality after all. That's according to a new datamine of the PC version of the game, which depicts character customisation menus currently unavailable in the public build of the game.

The video comes via Redditor uninspired_zebra, renown on the Battlefront subreddit for datamining the series' PC builds. The inaccessible menus contain a fairly wide range of broad customisation options, with various skins available for each of the assault characters within each of the six factions. 

While the 2014 version of Star Wars Battlefront featured character customization, this month's sequel did not. "The one thing we're very focused on and they are extremely focused on is not violating the canon of Star Wars,” Jorgensen said earlier this week. “It's an amazing brand that’s been built over many, many years, and so if you did a bunch of cosmetic things, you might start to violate the canon, right? 

He continued: "Darth Vader in white probably doesn't make sense, versus in black. Not to mention you probably don't want Darth Vader in pink. No offense to pink, but I don't think that's right in the canon."

While it's reasonably common for games to secretly boast assets that developers have opted not to use, the video is likely to rock the boat more than it normally would, given the ongoing controversy surrounding the game's loot box system. It's possible the functionality has been abandoned entirely, rather than awaiting future implementation.

Check out the video below:

Shaun Prescott
Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.