Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes debuts on PC early access with cross-play on mobile

Electronic Arts and Capital Games have launched early access for the PC version of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, with cross-play and cross-progression with the hit mobile game.

The popular mobile RPG is a collectible strategy game that debuted on mobile in 2015, and the title is still one of the top grossing in the world. Now it’s finally making its way to the PC, and EA sees this as a great way to get lapsed players back or find brand new players.

This event marks the first time that any hero can join the holotable battles by downloading Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes via the EA App. EA and Capital Games have licensed Star Wars from Disney’s Lucasfilm Games. The game is free to play.

“With the game moving into PC early access, we can’t wait for even more players to experience this new raid on a big screen. Just wait for what’s coming in the future,” Chelsea, the associate producer on the game, said in a press briefing.

In the Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes Early Access, players can look forward to true intergalactic battlesfilled with memorable Star Wars lore. Over the years, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes has featured more than 300 heroes and villains from The Mandalorian series on Disney+, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, epic raid bosses, large scale territory battles and regular events to grow the galaxy.

“Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is growing and we’re always finding new ways to share our love of Star Wars with you all,” said Caley Roberts, lead producer at Capital Games, in a press briefing.

Now, the PC early access gives more players an opportunity to experience the holotables on PC for the first time. Previously only available to a select few by invitation, early access will expand access to all players interested in the PC experience- with smooth 60PFS framerates, antialiasing, button mapping, and more.

For players joining for the first time, or those looking to relive their galactic hologames experience, the team has recently launched a new player experience in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. This includes a complete rehaul of the player quest and rewards system for the journey to max level (level 8).

This revamped system grants players the opportunity to enjoy a speedier but full SWGOH experience. With the major updates made, playing through the full initial campaign is now a more balanced experience. The new progression model allows for a streamlined journey to level 85, opening up the many exciting game modes players can look forward to.

New progression model key changes

The journey to level 85 (max level) is going to be significantly condensed. Newplayers joining the game are able to advance through level milestones faster while existing players also benefit from the update.

A new quest and rewards system will be introduced that significantly helps players progress, learn the game mechanics, and earn rewards faster that helps with the journey to level 85. Daily objectives and the quest system will grant more XP. Players can earn character shards to attain a larger roster as rewards from completing quests.

Moreover, players will be able to carry over their progression from the mobile version to the PC and Mac versions. The EA App release is synced with the mobile version, being that it’s fully cross-progression, cross-commerce and cross-platform compatible. STAR WARS: Galaxy of Heroes is also upscaled through the EA App on PC with smooth visuals and an enhanced layout that come with PC capabilities.

The inclusion of new characters and regular in-game events will continue to expand the story and increase the roster of playable characters.

Players can sign up for an opportunity to participate in the Early Access by downloading the EA App to their Windows PC or Mac, setting up their EA Account, linking their EA and game accounts, and registering for the early access.

Roberts said the developer team is excited to get more feedback from PC players in preparation for the full launch. The team has been able to double the framerate for a “buttery smooth experience.” The PC game also has antialiasing to get rid of jagged edges and it can run on Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs.

The team included a first-party tool for content creators so they can create their personalized content more easily. The game now has Airplane Mode on both mobile and the PC. You can switch the gameplay from the PC to mobile easily if you want.

Controller support isn’t available now but the team is studying accessibility features. The team is adding new content into the game every couple of weeks.

“It’s really allowed for the Star Wars experience to be had at its like highest fidelity,” Roberts said.

You can play the game on a low-spec device and get a good framerate. The PC generally enables the game graphics to run at 60 frames per second. The gameplay content is the same as on mobile, but there are enhancements to the graphics.

Players who left the mobile game a while ago have missed a lot of content, as the game is updated every couple of weeks. There are updates to the Grand Arena championship, marquee events, and legendary assault battles.

As for the challenges, Roberts said the backend infrastructure was one of the biggest challenges in moving to the PC. There are a lot of first party tools that help the developers monitor the game, but none of those were available on the PC. The teams had to create them. The PC game was also very different from an architecture standpoint from the mobile game.

EA officials did not say whether characters from Star Wars: Acolyte would join the game. The game already has a wide range of characters like Jar Jar Binks, Darth Maul, Quigon, Mace Windu, Obi Wan Kenbi and Jabba the Hut.