Star Wars Battlefront II Gets Community-Led Renaissance with KYBER Launcher Open Beta

DICE's Star Wars Battlefront II launch in November 2017 was notoriously hindered by the loot box scandal. The game's original monetization scheme provided in-game advantages to those who chose to spend real money to expedite unlocks. The developers increased the rate at which players could work toward unlocks simply by playing the game. However, shortly before the release date, a Reddit user calculated that it would still take around 40 hours of gameplay to unlock a hero.

This prompted a developer response from the EA Community Team that included the infamous 'sense of pride and accomplishment' comment, which riled up fans so badly that it went down (as certified in 2019 by the Guinness World Records) as the most downvoted comment in Reddit's history with over 683K downvotes. Belgian authorities even started an investigation, while as of November 16, 2017, Electronic Arts was still maintaining that the loot box model did not constitute gambling. The following day (which was also the release day), though, EA decided to remove all microtransactions from the game.

Needless to say, all this controversy greatly harmed the reputation of Star Wars Battlefront II in the eyes of many gamers. It's a shame, because the game itself was very enjoyable, and over time, it garnered quite a dedicated following. DICE improved it with various content updates, the last of which was released in late April 2020. Still, the community wanted more, and that's how the KYBER project began.

KYBER is a custom server platform and mod launcher that completely replaces Star Wars Battlefront II's official online infrastructure on PC and introduces various additions, such as:

• Dedicated 24/7 community-operated servers that allow players to host persistent game sessions with custom rulesets, map selections, and gameplay modifications.
• Full support for community-made mods, enabling creators to develop new gameplay mechanics, cosmetics, balance changes, and content entirely separate from official patches.
• Key mode changes, such as Supremacy being developed into the Battlefield-inspired Conquest mode, where matches are faster paced and have a clearer flow.
• A fully functional server browser, which was missing in the official game.
• Proximity-based voice chat, where players hear teammates and nearby opponents based on in-game distance rather than team-only channels, encouraging organic squad coordination without requiring external platforms like Discord.
• Detailed stats tracking that allows players to review their career statistics across both official online servers and KYBER servers.
• Spectator mode that leverages the game's built-in spectator camera. Useful to monitor suspicious players, view epic battles, and more.

It took a long time, but after four years of work, KYBER launched a few hours ago in Open Beta to expand the player base and help refine the last bugs ahead of the full release. You can now install KYBER following this procedure:

Prerequisites (Preliminary Setup)

• Own a legal PC copy of Star Wars Battlefront II (via EA App, Steam, Epic Games, or EA Play subscription)
• Disable the Discord overlay for Battlefront II
• Disable FrostyFix (it conflicts with KYBER)
• Launch vanilla Battlefront II once after installation to initialize the game
• Register a free NexusMods account or log in with your existing one on the NexusMods website.

Installation Steps

Steps 1-2: Downloading and Running the Installer

1. Join the KYBER Discord server
2. Navigate to #download channel and click "here" to download the installer
3. If the browser blocks the download, select "more info" then "download anyway"
4. Extract the downloaded .zip file
5. Double-click the installer .exe file
6. Click "Yes" when prompted to allow KYBER to modify your computer
7. Click "Next" through the installation wizard until "Finish"

Step 3: Antivirus Whitelisting
Windows Security and third-party antivirus software must exclude KYBER directories to prevent false-positive threats:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\KYBER Launcher
• C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\ArmchairDevelopers

Access exclusions via: Windows Settings → Update & Security → Windows Security → Virus & Threat Protection → Manage Settings → Add or Remove Exclusions

Step 4: EA Account Authentication
Log in to KYBER using your EA account.

Step 5: Maxima Launcher Authorization

• Click "Open Maxima Launcher" when prompted
• The EA App will automatically shift to Offline mode (this is intentional)
• The EA App must remain offline or closed while playing KYBER
• If Windows Defender prompts for network access, click "Allow"
• To later play on the official EA servers: close KYBER, set EA App to Online, and launch normally

Step 6: NexusMods Authorization

• Log in to NexusMods inside KYBER (do not create a new account inside KYBER)
• In the NexusMods pop-up window, scroll down and click "Allow" to authorize

Step 7: Joining a Server

• Go to the "Home" section to open the server browser
• Select a server and click "Download Mods"
• Once downloads complete, click "Play" to join
• Mods download only once per server

Step 8: Managing Mod Downloads

• Mods with fewer than 150 NexusMods downloads require manual search in the "Mods" tab
• Popular mods download faster (Battlefront Plus V10 Beta101 and Battlefront Expanded V7.1 host files directly on KYBER servers, bypassing NexusMods throttling)
• Users can also download mod .zip files from the NexusMods website and drag-and-drop into the KYBER window for installation

Step 9: Proximity Chat Configuration
After launching Star Wars Battlefront II:

• Press "Insert" or Alt-Tab to KYBER
• Go to "Settings" → "In-Game Settings"
• Configure proximity chat:
  • Enable/disable voice
  • Adjust volume
  • Choose push-to-talk or always-on mode
  • Select audio input/output devices

The KYBER team had also promised to release the source code, but they asked for a little more time to make it 'more presentable'. As such, the current plan is to make it public next month (January 2026).

While a few members of the original development team at DICE are interested in making Star Wars Battlefront III, it may be a long time before Lucasfilm actually gives the green light to such a project. Thankfully, the PC community at least will be served by the continued development and improvement of KYBER.

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