Star Wars Battlefront has no server browser

Star Wars Battlefront will not have a server browser. EA community manager Sledgehammer 70 posted the news on the Star Wars Battlefront subreddit, saying that Battlefront will "utilize a new skill based matchmaking system" instead.

The thread is full of disappointed players. The Battlefield games, and most shooters worth their salt, give players the option to join servers of their choosing. Server browsers give you greater control over the maps and modes you want to play, and can offer communities stable spots where they can meet and compete. The alternative, matchmaking, is a good way to quickly jump into a game, but is less likely to foster a community that will stick around on PC.

Server browsers can be inconvenient for developers who want to see the user base spread across all of the available maps and modes. Servers give the community the ability to flock to a limited set of favoured maps, to the exclusion of all others. which can effectively kill maps that fall out of favour. Is this why DICE has decided to go with a matchmaking-only option, or is it because accessibility is more important to the wide-ranging audience that a Star Wars game is likely to attract?

We'll find out how good the matchmaking is the "technical test" launches next month.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.