Star Wars Battlefront 2 gets hefty free download adding what gamers have wanted for years

More than two decades after Star Wars: Battlefront II first hit shelves, players can finally take one of its most beloved modes online thanks to a new free mod.

Galactic Conquest has long been a favourite among fans of the 2005 Star Wars classic, letting players move fleets between planets, purchase upgrades, and fight battles in a bid to control the galaxy.

One thing it never officially offered, however, was the ability to play an entire conquest campaign with a friend over the internet. Even the 2024 Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection failed to deliver it, much to the frustration of longtime players.

Fortunately, the modding community has very helpfully stepped in.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 finally gets online Galactic Conquest

Galactic Conquest finally supports online co-op after more than two decades (ModDB/Trauntrow)

Created by Trauntrow, the Galactic Conquest Together mod was released this week and introduces two-player online co-op and versus matches to the original Star Wars BF2 on PC.

When playing co-op, one person handles the strategic side of the campaign, whilst their friend's screen mirrors everything happening on the galaxy map, from fleet movements to purchases. Both can then jump into the same battles and fight alongside each other.

Those feeling more competitive can switch to versus mode, with each player controlling their own faction, taking turns on the galaxy map and facing off in battles. Campaign progress can also be saved and loaded, rather than requiring everything to be completed in one sitting.

Plus, the mod uses Steam invites, so there's no need to set up a dedicated server or forward ports. It's available to download for free through Nexus Mods and ModDB.

However, keep in mind this is exclusively for the Steam release of Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005), not EA's 2017 reboot sequel of the same or the Classic Collection. Both players also need the unofficial 1.3 patch, and the creator has warned that crashes or synchronisation problems are still possible.

Star Wars Battlefront fans have been waiting years for this feature

Both players can save their progress between Galactic Conquest battles (ModDB/Trauntrow)

Occasional crashes aside, of which Trauntrow (u/Hunterbing) made clear when announcing the mod on Reddit, user reactions still showed how keen the Battlefront 2 fanbase had been for an add-on like this.

After asking about the current max player count (still being two, but increasing it is being looked into), one user said: “Either way, this is exactly what I've been looking for my whole life!!”

Another reacted: “I'm honestly surprised it took someone 25 years to implement something like this. Awesome stuff.”

That sort of excitement is definitely understandable, since an online mode still being left out of 2024’s Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection was a major sore point amongst others for fans — enough that the collection still carries a ‘Mostly Negative’ rating on Steam, amongst other reasons.

On a separate Reddit thread at the time, one disappointed player complained about developer Aspyr in the main post: “It’s literally all I wanted out of the title….There’s been nothing but time to find a working fix, but they deducted to use AI to do their upscaling for them. I don’t know what I was even expecting.”

Granted, Trauntrow’s project still isn’t guaranteed to run perfectly compared to how a dedicated, officially made version might have, but it’s better than nothing at all for now.