Here's a first proper look at Obi-Wan Kenobi and the planet of Geonosis ahead of their arrival in Star Wars Battlefront 2 next Wednesday, 28th November.

Geonosis is the planet where the battle takes place at the end of Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones, the one with loads of Jedi in it. That was really exciting at the time - we hadn't seen Jedi fight in those numbers before. It's also where Count Dooku chops Anakin's hand off (planting a seed of inspiration for later life) and old bogey-face Yoda wades in, jumping and spinning an awful lot. That was also quite exciting - we hadn't seen him fight before.

That whole sequence from the film looks ropy now, because of the aging CGI. Actually, compare it to Star Wars Battlefront 2 and the game looks better!

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Video game boxes will soon get an in-game purchases warning.

PEGI (Pan European Game Information) said it will start to include the new content descriptor icon for physical releases of video games to help inform parents prior to a purchase about the potential for in-game spending.

This descriptor will be applied to all games that offer the option to buy digital goods with real currency, and will start appearing on physical releases towards the end of this year. This is a somewhat vague phrase that doesn't distinguish between the likes of DLC expansions and microtransactions or loot boxes, for example, but it's a start.

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Veteran EA exec Patrick S derlund is to leave the publisher after nearly two decades.

A familiar face during EA press conferences, the towering Swedish giant has held numerous senior positions in the company over his long tenure - most recently as its chief design officer.

Before all that, S derlund was previously CEO of DICE, the Battlefield, Star Wars Battlefront and Mirror's Edge studio which EA bought back in 2006, which is when S derlund transferred onto EA's own management team.

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Star Wars fans, EA has found, all want to be the number one Star Wars fan.

The company has done extensive research into the motivation of Star Wars fans, EA's Jade Raymond said during a presentation at the Develop conference in Brighton this morning, and found that the number one motivating factor for fans to engage with anything Star Wars related - including video games - is to expand their knowledge of the Star Wars universe and "lord it over their friends".

Raymond, who manages EA's Motive studios as well as works on the overarching Star Wars video game strategy at the company, was asked what makes a great Star Wars video game.

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Last week, Emperor Sheev Palpatine - Darth Sidious to his friends - was pulled from Star Wars Battlefront 2. He was too powerful! So powerful, in fact, he could kill people through walls.

A week on and there's no word on Palpatine's return, as players continue to enjoy a period of galactic calm without Palpy being able to send lightning around corners.

Interestingly, EA killed off the Emperor using a "kill switch" - a piece of code in the game which can be activated server side to instantly vanish a troublesome character should something go awry. Think Order 66, but over the internet.

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DICE has shared more information on some of the new features coming to Star Wars Battlefront 2 later this year, including a map and characters inspired by The Clone Wars.

This summer sees the introduction of a new squad system, enabling players to team up more easily with friends, a new starfighter mode focussed around dogfighting with hero ships, plus a new "large-scale multiplayer sandbox mode" - in which players capture command posts, attacking and taking out ships.

Additionally, once Battlefront 2's current Han Solo season is out of the way, DICE will begin ushering in new goodies themed around The Clone Wars. There'll be a new map based on the planet Geonosis, which DICE describes as the "largest level ever built for Battlefront", and there'll be new heroes and villains too.

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There's a new map and mode coming to Star Wars Battlefront 2 next week, June 12th, as part of its currently ongoing Han Solo-themed season.

Battlefront 2's new map takes form of the Coaxium Mines of Kessel, unsurprisingly located on the planet Kessel (of "12 parsecs" fame). "It's not for the faint-hearted though", explains EA, "conditions are harsh, and the Galactic Empire is heavily invested in the local supply of the highly sought after coaxium."

Several modes will be available to play on the new map: Arcade, Blast, Hero Showdown, Heroes vs Villains, and Extraction mode, which makes its Battlefront 2 debut in the new update.

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Things are hotting up for Star Wars Battlefront 2 ahead of the release of the new Han Solo movie this month.

Battlefront 2's Han Solo season, which kicks off on 16th May, is spread across two months, EA said. In May the game gets new game mode Hero Showdown, which is a 2v2 best out of five single elimination mode in which players pick their heroes. If your team wins a round, you can't use the heroes you previously used in the next round. Conversely, if you lose a round you can stick with your heroes.

Also in May is Starfighter Custom Arcade. Here you can take on the AI with all the Starfighters in the game and practice for Starfighter Assault.

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Hot on the heels of the Netherlands declaring loot boxes are gambling and therefore illegal, Belgium has had its say.

The Belgian Gaming Commission looked at Star Wars Battlefront 2, FIFA 18, Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and found only Star Wars was not in violation of the country's gambling legislation - and that's only because EA stripped out the game's loot boxes after its launch debacle.

It determined FIFA 18, Overwatch and CS:GO's loot boxes are a game of chance and so are subject to Belgian gambling law. Battlefront 2, at the time the investigation was conducted, did not have loot boxes, so escapes unscathed.

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In-game microtransactions have returned to Star Wars Battlefront 2 - although this time they're limited to cosmetic unlocks. As detailed last week, the in-game purchases come as part of the game's new Night on Endor update, which lets you play as (and kill off) Ewoks.

Cosmetic options available today include fairly cheap options for alien soldiers (different races, female character options) and more expensive alternative looks to customise fan-favourite hero characters (such as The Last Jedi looks for Rey and Kylo Ren).

There's no option for a pink Darth Vader.

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