On This Day in Battlefront: Battlefront II’s Progression Update Released 8 Years Ago

Eight years ago today, Star Wars Battlefront II got one of the most important updates in the game’s entire post-launch life.

On March 21, 2018, DICE released the Progression Update, also known as Update 2.0, a patch that completely reworked how multiplayer progression functioned in the game. It was a big moment for Battlefront II, not just because of the mechanical changes, but because it marked a major attempt to move the game away from the mess that had defined its launch-era conversation.

The Patch That Changed the Conversation

The headline change was a full progression overhaul.

According to the official FAQ and release notes from the time, the update removed gameplay-affecting Star Cards from purchasable crates and shifted progression toward earning class-specific experience, skill points, and unlocks through play instead. DICE also unlocked all existing heroes and villains for all players as part of the patch.

For a game that had spent months being defined by progression controversy, that was not a tiny fix. It was a pretty fundamental course correction.

Administrator’s Palace Arrived Too

The March 2018 update also added Administrator’s Palace on Bespin as a new map for Blast and Heroes vs. Villains. It was not the biggest content drop in the game’s history, but it gave the patch a little extra weight beyond systems and balance work.

That combo is probably why the update is still remembered so clearly: it was both a structural reset and a small content beat at the same time.

Why It Still Matters

Not every Battlefront II patch stuck in people’s minds.

This one did.

The Progression Update was one of the clearest turning points in the game’s long redemption arc, and eight years later it is still easy to point to March 21, 2018 as one of the dates that helped reshape how players talked about Battlefront II .

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