Star Wars Battlefront 2 mods have started to appear recently, so EA clarified its stance on how it plans to tackle the issue in the months ahead. A forum post from EA’s community management staff provides an answer most gamers should feel comfortable with.
When one user pressed for more information, an official account replied “so long as the mods do not change how the game functions and are just for visual effect then you should be OK.
“You should also be aware of our Terms of Service that you will have agreed to: https://www.ea.com/terms-of-service.”
Guiding users to the Terms Of Service is likely standard company policy, but actually reading the document does complicate the issue. Under the “rules of conduct” section, the contract states all players must not “modify any file or any other part of the EA Service that EA does not specifically authorize you to modify.”
In other words, while the initial forum response seems fairly cut-and-dry, EA’s legal wording on the subject is not. The ToS implies that so-called authorized files can be modded, but it never specifically outlines authorized files. Based on the confirmation above it looks like cosmetics are covered, but the loose official wording means that ruling could technically change at any time. We’d be surprised if that happened given how troublesome Battlefront 2’s first few months have been, but it’s not out of the question.
We haven’t seen any ban reports from the use of cosmetic mods yet, and that’s a good thing. Over the past seven days alone the Nexus community has created well over 100 files to offer Star Wars fans all the canon and non-canon skins and tweaks they could possibly want. Notable among those is Destauch’s “Darth Vader In Pink.” The mod, of course, is a play on previous comments made by EA CFO Blake Jorgensen that suggested “you probably don’t want Darth Vader in pink” when asked why the 2017 game doesn’t feature any character skins in its expansive loot crate system. Now if you want Vader in pink, he’s all yours in Battlefront 2’s PC version.
As for other mods in the collection, there are tweaks to remove lens flare effects and add retro character stylings that call back to 2005’s Star Wars Battlefront 2. Once the community gains more experience with how EA has structured the game files, the number of options is sure to grow.
If you’re afraid of modding, or are playing Battlefront 2 on a console, the only solace you have is that datamines suggest DICE has worked on or is working on ways to introduce character cosmetics to the game. Unfinished menus feature various skins for troops in nearly every class. The selections may not be as wild as a pink Vader, but they’ll definitely add some variety to the battlefield if and when they get released.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC. The mods referenced above only work on PC.
Do you think EA will remain open to allowing cosmetic mods in Star Wars Battlefront 2? What kind of mods would you like to see? Tell us in the comments section!
- Amazing story
- Gorgeous visuals and top-notch audio
- Multiplayer decisions ruin the fun
- Little reason to keep playing
