Star Wars Battlefront 3 Rumors: What's Actually Behind the DICE and Bungie Talk

On October 19, 2026, Jeff Grubb sat down for another episode of Game Mess Mornings and read aloud from a magazine column. The passage described Lucasfilm "aggressively deploying probe droids" in search of a studio to build Star Wars Battlefront 3, with EA DICE positioned as the lead contender and Bungie waiting in the wings as a fallback. Within hours, the internet had decided a new Battlefront was happening.

It isn't. Not yet, and possibly not for years.

What makes this particular rumor worth examining is not the promise of a game but the paper trail behind it. Unlike the anonymous forum posts that usually fuel Battlefront 3 chatter, this one traces to a specific column, a specific issue, and a specific stretch goal on a crowdfunding campaign, and that trail tells a more interesting story than the rumor itself: Lucasfilm, freed from its exclusive arrangement with EA, is actively shopping for partners to rebuild one of Star Wars gaming's most valuable properties. What follows is a rumor roundup with context, not a confirmation story. Treat it accordingly.

Where the Rumor Actually Came From

The source is EGM issue #265, specifically the Quartermann column. That issue exists only because the EGM Compendium Kickstarter cleared its $250,000 stretch goal in 2024, with the campaign ultimately raising more than $1.7 million, per the Kickstarter campaign page. The print revival has since been delayed, but the issue is real, and so is the column.

Quartermann is EGM's long-running pseudonymous rumor column, historically written by the magazine's news editor. It carries a genuine editorial lineage, which gives it more weight than a random leak, though it has always been as much gossip as news. Grubb himself noted the pen name's history when reading the passage.

The column's claims are specific. Lucasfilm is seeking a development partner for Battlefront 3. EA DICE leads the shortlist, with Bungie as the alternative if DICE declines. And critically, "no one" has fully stepped up to take the project on.

Grubb added the caveat that reframes everything: the game doesn't sound like it's in the works yet. What's happening, per his commentary, are conversations about who should take it on. That distinction between "in development" and "in talks" is the fault line running through this entire story.

The Competing Claim: Respawn Enters the Picture

The same day Grubb read the column, Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer tweeted that DICE and Respawn, not Bungie, are working on Battlefront 3. It should be treated as an unconfirmed addendum rather than a competing report, a single secondhand claim from a developer at an unrelated studio, with no supporting detail. The mention is easy to muddle, too, since Respawn is already EA's Star Wars studio by way of the Jedi series. The safer read follows Grubb and the EGM text: DICE or Respawn may have done pre-production or prototyping work while Lucasfilm continues shopping for a studio to actually build the game. That is not the same as production, and it should not be described as such.

Why the Rumor Is Structurally Plausible

Strip away the specific studio names and the underlying premise holds up. EA's exclusive Star Wars license expired in 2023, and Lucasfilm Games now takes pitches from a wider pool of partners.

Lucasfilm Games VP Douglas Reilly has described huge AAA games like Battlefront as "always going to be an essential part of the strategy," while stressing flexibility and a high quality bar. That framing fits the current rumor precisely: a major Battlefront project is desirable, but Lucasfilm is willing to wait for the right partner rather than hand it to the first studio available.

The recent slate backs this up. Star Wars: Zero Company and Star Wars: Galactic Racer both arrived in 2026 to relatively strong reviews, evidence of a broader partner strategy already in motion.

And the demand signal is hard to ignore. Star Wars Battlefront 2 hit an all-time Steam peak of 35,892 concurrent players in June 2025, per SteamDB, driven by a $4 sale. Nearly a decade after its controversial launch, the audience for Battlefront remains substantial. Lucasfilm has surely noticed.

Why the Bungie Leg Is the Weakest

Of everything in the rumor, the Bungie thread strains hardest. Bungie is Sony-owned, is currently firefighting the Marathon turnaround, and has committed to more Destiny following the end of Destiny 2 support. Taking on a full Battlefront project would be a strange fit for a studio with those obligations, and Grubb himself doubts Bungie, expecting DICE to land the project. The Bungie name appears in the rumor, but it should not be read as the likely developer.

The thin counterweight is Bungie's Star Wars-themed Destiny 2 expansion, Renegades, released in December 2025. That is trivia, not evidence of a Battlefront assignment.

What's missing entirely matters just as much: there is no announcement, no comment from Lucasfilm, EA, Disney, or Bungie, and no platforms, budget, or release window. As of this writing, the evidence base is entirely secondary.

The Franchise's Second "Almost" Battlefront 3

There's a historical echo here that should temper expectations. A Free Radical Design Battlefront 3 was nearly finished before LucasArts cancelled it around 2008. Leaked builds, including a Wii version, have circulated ever since.

One correction worth making: that cancellation predates EA's license, which began in 2013. It had nothing to do with EA or DICE, despite occasional claims to the contrary.

DICE's own run produced Battlefront in 2015 and Battlefront 2 in 2017, the latter defined by the loot box backlash before a long rehabilitation. EA never made a third. This franchise has been one conversation away from a third entry before, and "talks" are years away from a game.

What Would Actually Confirm This

The distinction that matters is simple. The rumor has a real, traceable paper trail: a funded print column, Grubb's corroborating commentary, Reilly's public strategy comments, and the license expiry. But every thread points to Lucasfilm shopping for a partner, not building a game.

If talks exist, they're early enough that no real production work is likely underway. That puts any game years out, well beyond any near-term announcement cycle.

Watch for an official Lucasfilm or EA announcement, or direct studio confirmation, as the only signals that would move this from rumor to reality.

For now, the Force behind these rumors is real. The game is not.