EA Confirms DICE and Respawn Are Collaborating on a New Project Amidst Star Wars: Battlefront 3 Rumors

Swedish studio Off-leash Interactive and Denshattack publishers Fireshine Games have announced Trollheim: Gnomes, a survival-crafting fairytale in which you, a three-inch-high gnome, explore a procedurally generated forest derived from Nordic folklore. You'll be clambering up enormous trees, lighting campfires beneath mushrooms, and befriending or evading troublesome larger supernatural creatures known as "Väsen". I caught a briefing for Trollheim: Gnomes earlier this month, and while I worry this is generic fare on some level, I'd sure like to get lost in those procgen woods. I'm also interested in the game's eight-player multiplayer, in that it seemingly creates opportunities for hide-and-seek – the game's building system affords scope to camouflage your dwellings against the litter, moss and mold of the forest floor.

Included in the shocking news of EA's restructuring , which includes layoffs and the closure of BioWare , is a mention from the publisher that Apex Legends studio Respawn Entertainment and Battlefield maker DICE are collaborating on a project. According to a report, that project is a long-awaited sequel set in a galaxy far, far away. Per Variety , which cites "multiple sources," the DICE and Respawn project is Star Wars Battlefront 3. While EA itself did not confirm this, the company's memo about the restructuring says that the studios' title will contribute to EA's goal of delivering a "shooter portfolio that unlocks growth." EA specifically states that learnings from Battlefield 6's launch and live service will further that goal, while also announcing that Apex Legends will be expanded with new "gameplay modes" and "other new experiences." As for the purported existence of Star Wars Battlefront 3, the timing coincides with a recent rumor that Lucasfilm Games was seeking a development partner for a new Battlefront , and that DICE and Sony-owned studio Bungie were among the studios being considered. DICE had made two Star Wars Battlefront games for EA, which were released in 2015 a

Updated: Oct 20, 2026 8:31am UTCTalk of Star Wars Battlefront 3 has ramped up this week, with a number of studios reportedly in with a chance of developing the shooter sequel. The rumor kicked off when Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb read out a snippet from Electronic Gaming Monthly’s revived Quarterman column, which claimed Disney has “big plans” for the Star Wars Battlefront series. According to EGM, Lucasfilm is looking for a development partner for Battlefront 3, and two studios are “circling” the project: DICE, developer of Battlefield and Battlefront, and Bungie, developer of Halo, Destiny, and Marathon. The potential for a Battlefront 3 is hugely exciting for fans of the series, of course, and if it does end up green lit, DICE would be the obvious course to develop it, although how the game would fit with the ongoing work on the Battlefield series remains to be seen. Bungie, though, would be a huge surprise as developer of Battlefront 3. The Sony-owned studio is working to turn around struggling extraction shooter Marathon, and only last month Bungie said more Destiny is coming, months after ending support for Destiny 2.

It’s been almost a decade since Star Wars Battlefront 2 and fans have been eager for a follow-up. According to Giant Bomb cohost Jeff Grubb, Lucasfilm is indeed shopping around a Star Wars Battlefront 3, but it remains to be seen who might actually make it. According to the rumor, Bungie is one of the studios in the running. The origins of this rumor are gnarly, so buckle up. Electronic Gaming Monthly recently released a compendium retrospective, and one of the bonuses as part of the Kickstarter was a new digital issue. That new issue reportedly featured the return of the Quartermann gossip column. That column contained a rumor that Lucasfilm wants to do a new Battlefront game. Grubb featured the column on his Game Mess Morning podcast for October 19: The suits at Lucasfilm have been aggressively deploying probe droids for a development partner to take on the task of creating a follow-up. So far, no one has fully stepped up, but yours truly is hearing two major game studios are circling the project like a couple of snowspeeders led by the completely unsurprising EA DICE who we can hope learned from their loot box lesson.

Michael McWhertor is a New York-based journalist and editor with more than 20 years of experience covering games, industry events, technology, movies, and TV. Disney is reportedly trying to make a new Star Wars Battlefront game happen