Three Years After Its Controversial Launch, Star Wars Battlefront II Is This Week's Free EGS Title

This week's free Epic Games Store offering is one of the most infamous games of the past few years. DICE and Electronic Arts' Star Wars Battlefront II, the game that prompted the most-downvoted thread in Reddit history, as well as U.S. Congressional investigation and a wave of anti-loot box sentiment worldwide, is available for free until next Thursday, January 21 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific.

The giveaway is for the $39.99 Celebration Edition of the game, which includes content that was added in the game up to and including the launch of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. That version includes hundreds of customization options, including over two dozen hero appearances -- and loot boxes that only contain credits and cosmetic items.

If you haven't glanced at Battlefront since (or because of) its controversial launch, you might be surprised to find out how much has changed. At the very least, it's got an 89% positive rating on Steam, which also has much more information about the game in general than its Epic Games Store page.

Next week's free EGS game will be for Stardock Entertainment's 4x strategy game Galactic Civilizations III. That giveaway will go live after Battlefront's time runs out on the 21st and will run until the 28th.