Star Wars Battlefront has faced some mixed reviews in its first week; it’s a fun couch co-op game, but reviewers almost unanimously mourn the lack of both more single and multiplayer content. Nevertheless, it’s a really fun game, and even more fun to play with your kids. Just one tip: first, get ’em a fake I.D.
Before you hop in the car and drive to some shady alley downtown, you won’t need a real fake I.D. But it might take some number-fudging and superfluous accounts to get your children playing Star Wars Battlefront online. Keep reading for a step-by-step process to get them online.
First, I’ve got to tell you: if you’ve got a child that’s just now getting into the Star Wars universe, Star Wars Battlefront is super fun. Even if your child has no first/third person shooter experience, they can easily take to Battlefront and have fun in the offline modes. But there are plenty of reasons to play online – the best of which is to play with family. My brother-in-law owns Battlefrontas well, and our first thought was that he and my son would have fun playing one of the wave-survival games together. Also, if you’re not able to connect, you cannot earn credits toward unlocks or rank up in the game.
Sounds great! So what’s the problem?!
Problem is: Star Wars Battlefront is rated “T for Teen” by the ESRB. By definition, the game takes place in battles. Battles are violent, violence isn’t kid-friendly, you get the idea. For this reason, modern consoles have parental controls (see them for XB1, PS4). The best thing about these controls is that you, the parent, can set which kinds of games you are letting your child play. Because the ESRB isn’t raising your kid, the decision as to whether your child plays a game or not should be up to you. And I’m not here to tell you that Star Wars Battlefront is or isn’t appropriate for your child – that’s up to you. I’m telling you that I feel that it’s appropriate for mine. I’d previously opened up the game restrictions on my son’s Xbox account so that he could play other games. So, I assumed my son would be able to play Battlefront. But in the game, trying to go to the multiplayer menu, he was faced with a message:
“You are not allowed to access online features”
Sigh. I re-checked the parental controls and my son was, indeed able to play T-rated games. He was actually allowed to play M-rated games. So what was the deal?
I did a little digging. EA suggests that you make sure you’re playing “on an account registered to a user of-age…” This is the crux of it all; EA doesn’t suggest that you check your parental controls. They just want the user to be “of-age”. This is a hint as to how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Before we go any further, I’m going to tell you this: if it’s no big deal to you that your child just plays Battlefront on your XBL / PSN account, then you’re done. You can go have fun. But if your child is on their own account, keep reading…
I did more digging, and turns out I wasn’t the only one to have this problem. Forum users reported that their children were having trouble getting online with the game as well. Users had turned off parental restrictions for “T” and “M” rated games as I had. Eventually in the forums, people came to the conclusion that users needed to go through this exhaustive and dishonest process (this is specific to Xbox Live):
- Log into your (parent) Microsoft account page from a computer.
- Set child’s date of birth so that they are 16 years old or older (goodbye childhood!)
- Create an EA/Origin account for your child on the Origin site.
- Set child’s date of birth so that they are 16 years old or older.
- Download the Origin game client.
- Once installed, open and logged in, select the “Friends” tab.
- Link your child’s Xbox Live to Origin (it might tell you that it can’t find friends through Origin, and that’s okay).
- Close Origin client.
- Take a deep breath.
- Turn on Xbox One console.
- Log into Xbox Live with your child’s account.
- Start Star Wars Battlefront.
- At the main menu, if it hasn’t automatically connected this time, press Y to connect.
- Voila?
The unwritten fifteenth step: have a drink. Because not only did you just have to create accounts and download PC clients just to get your child onto a console game, but you had to fudge the numbers and tell two systems that your child is older than they are. I’m sure that method violates both Microsoft and EA’s Terms of Service, but parents are left with no other option. I hope that the steps above helped.
Star Wars Battlefront is a blast to play with your kids (and your nieces, nephews and cousins) and it’d be a shame for the above steps to be the only way parents could get their kids online playing this game. I hate having an incorrect birth date on my son’s accounts, but the tools that have been given to me through parental controls on the console have failed me as a decision-making parent.
Have you been able to get your child online playing Star Wars Battlefront in a less exhaustive way? Tell us in the comments!
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video game disney Star Wars video games xbox live playstation 4 xbox one star wars battlefront ea diceThe Author
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November 23, 2015
Thank you for this post. I spent two furious hours on this issue (not including the 30 minutes it took me to even figure out how to contact EA). I ended up having to create a new Xbox account for my son with a new EA/Origin ID. So, he has his main account and now a special account just for SW: Battlefront. You can imagine how thrilled he was about that! Not to mention that as a parent, my son now has an Xbox Live account with no parental restrictions! Thanks, EA.
November 24, 2015
And he’ll be earning achievements on an account that isn’t his main account. Boo. Thanks for reading – sorry you’re going through this madness too!
December 21, 2015
“I ended up having to create a new Xbox account for my son with a new
EA/Origin ID. So, he has his main account and now a special account
just for SW: Battlefront.”
FWIW, this is exactly what Microsoft support suggested that I do (hypothetically, of course, because they couldn’t actually suggest that).
I’m not comfortable with giving him an adult account just yet, but I may come around if EA / Microsoft don’t resolve this of their own accord. That said, there’s probably no incentive for them to do so, given that there’s zero chance of getting hordes of Star Wars fans to withhold buying the game until its fixed. That’s assuming, of course, that anyone is even aware of the issue until they’ve actually bought the game and run into this problem first-hand.
Thanks to the vendors for making our kids “safer” by forcing us to create adult accounts for them.
November 29, 2015
I have the same problem. Please go to the Xbox Feedback Page and vote for my suggestion – “Allow child accounts to access Star Wars Battlefront based on account settings not age”. EA may not listen to users, but maybe they will listen to Microsoft if Microsoft pushes for a fix. https://xbox.uservoice.com/forums/251649-memberships-accounts/suggestions/10901022-allow-child-accounts-to-access-star-wars-battlefro
December 1, 2015
I know Microsoft has put this off on EA, and EA I’m sure is bound in some way to more stringently follow content rules because *this is Star Wars*.
Sorry we’re all having this problem – I hope my solution has helped.
December 21, 2015
Zach, Thank you for taking the time to figure all of this out, and to post it for the rest of us. It did help, at least in that I understand now what the issue is.
Unfortunately, I’m not willing to make the leap to let my kid log on as an unrestricted adult, so I’m kind of stuck for now. As is he – who laments the fact that all of his friends are logged in and playing this game at the same time he is, but not actually playing with him.
December 21, 2015
I just upvoted this idea on the Xbox site. Thanks for starting it. Too bad there’s only 5 of us parents who have weighed in so far!
February 22, 2016
I have also upvoted and pushed this out on social media.
December 9, 2015
I’ve been trying to set my son’s age on Microsoft,but I see no option for it on the family page. Anyone else have this problem?
December 10, 2015
I think the pathway to it was changed slightly. Try this: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/child-birthdate-microsoft-account
Thanks for letting me know – I’ll update my article!
December 15, 2015
This is simply insane! Why people keep trying to enforce their beliefs on other people’s lives… EA, get out of the way and let me be the one to decide what my kids can and can’t do…… Thanks Zach for this article! It did the trick for me.
December 16, 2015
Yeah if all these parents want their 6 year olds to have conversations with all the polite high school kids that play this game, then they shouldn’t have to go to this trouble. On the plus side, you won’t have to explain the birds and the bees to your kids because those same high school kids will describe the process in detail.
December 16, 2015
Hah! I think my son’s played one or two games online with strangers and the chat volume stays lowwww for it. Everything else has been online with just family.
December 21, 2015
Chat is my main concern, too. I’m not known for having the cleanest of language in real life, nor for being particularly thin-skinned. But, after years of playing Halo as an adult, I’m still appalled at some of the things that people say to me (and others) in multiplayer. I’m kind of OK with my son seeing some jerk shooting or tea bagging his dead avatar in multiplayer, so long as it’s done in silence. I have to draw the line, though, when obscene verbal harassment accompanies the jerky behavior.
I’m sure some parents will find my position too liberal, and others too puritanical. The point is that we should be able to configure what we feel is appropriate for our own families – and to be able to change our minds and add more restrictions in the future, which is something you apparently can’t do after transitioning to an adult account.
Oddly, the Xbox family account settings have a specific “Communicate with voice and text” setting where you can allow, disallow, or allow with friends. I don’t know if this includes game chat or just party chat, but my son says that he’s never heard game chat in any of his games (and that he overhears it in mine when I’m playing), so I assume it’s the former. I wish I could use this setting to turn off chat in Battlefront and let him play some multiplayer using his own child account.
January 2, 2016
I have the parental controls on the Xbox One to block all voice chat amongst other things so my kids don’t have to hear anyone online or worry about any creeps for the most part.
December 21, 2015
This sounds like workable advice. What I’m struggling with, though, is how to set myself up as a parent without having access to a Windows PC. It doesn’t sound like I can get it done with my Mac or iPhone. Microsoft only sees me as an “adult” and not a “parent,” so I can’t edit my son’s settings.
December 25, 2015
This is a pretty dumb thing to have to deal with on Christmas morning. I would have just bought another game if I had known.
December 25, 2015
Completely agree. Gaming studios should base their access off of how xBox parental controls are set. Otherwise what’s the point of them to begin with, if we are going to have to set access to each gaming company one at a time.
At the very least there should have been a HUGE disclaimer on the front of each disc case warning buyers beforehand.
December 25, 2015
ikr i got it and it wont let me do multiplayer because i have to make a ea account…I HAVE 2! and it still dosent work! plz help someone this just broke my heart because i got this for christmas!
December 26, 2015
Thanks bro! After many hours of research, trial and error, finally stumbled across this…..BOOM worked like a charm
December 26, 2015
Thanks for this, Zach. For some reason I thought I had read some where that once a child’s xBox account was set up there was no way to change the date of birth. It’s ridiculous that they are forcing us to work around them when a parents permission to play a game should be more than enough.
December 27, 2015
You’re awesome Zach. Two thumbs up. My son and I thank you so much. You don’t know how long I’ve been researching. This was the last resort before I took the game back. So frustrating. Happy holidays.
December 31, 2015
Firstly, thanks for this advice. Sadly, I followed it to the letter and my son still can’t access Battlefront through his own account. Do you think that things might be different here in the UK or that in the month or so since you wrote the article things have changed? As we say here in England “What a palava!”
December 31, 2015
This worked for me thanks, I altered dob on both ea and ms accounts and then used the origin app to link his Xbox account to ea account. Altogether a bit of a nuisance, why have more than one method of assuring access to a game? I’m in UK, game purchased in roi, just too the two hours to resolve. Ridiculous, ms and partners need to sort a single approach 0/10 for design on this front
December 31, 2015
Colm,
do you have a link to where I can change DOB in the EA account? Many thanks.
January 1, 2016
Update – just got son to try to log in again and it worked! Did nothing else overnight – maybe it needed some time to work through the system. Thanks to all for your help.
January 1, 2016
Saved my life this post thanks, spent hours looking for a solution with a very upset 11 year old who couldn’t play with his mates on his new Xbox one. Stupid that it didn’t just take parental settings from Xbox live.
January 11, 2016
Zach, you’re a blimming legend. One happy son!
Thanks man.
January 16, 2016
I did all the steps but still am unable to connect. What is going on?
January 19, 2016
I tried all the steps but for some reason when I try to use the PC application to add friends I just keep getting a server error. Seems like they have patched this workaround. Has anyone else gotten this to work recently?
January 25, 2016
I was getting an error that said it couldn’t find friends – is that the one you’re talking about?
January 25, 2016
No, I figured out what the problem was. My son created a child account when he first turned on the Battlefront game. Then I received an email stating he would like to create a child account. I agreed to it and his xbox gamer tag was forever tied to this child account, as the CSR from EA stated. When I stumbled across this article I tried the steps to associated his new EA child account to mine by using the find friends on the PC application. Every time I tried it gave me a red x and said server error. I found a workaround for anyone else with this problem. I downloaded the FIFA2016 demo from the store. Then launched the FIFA game under my son’s Xbox gamer tag. Once it logged into his EA child account I then went to the PC app, logged into my parent account and went to add friends. I logged into my son’s Microsoft account and viola. It gave me a window that said no friends to add. I checked the linked account on the PC application and it listed my son’s Xbox gamertag. I opened the Battlefront game under my son’s gamer tag and boom it logged him in. My conclusion is that since he created a child account from within the Battlefront game, it was never fully activated because he wasn’t old enough to login to the online services for the game. This was probably the reason i couldn’t use the add friends trick from the PC app. Once his child account logged into the FIFA game it completed the activation of his account and I was then able to use the add friends trick on the PC app which linked his gamer tag to my account. So basically EA was wrong! They probably knew about the work around but legally can’t tell anyone. Anyway, my son is online and playing with his xbox gamertag. I hope this helps someone if they are getting the server error message when trying the work around. I think it was just my specific circumstances with his child account being created from within the battlefront game and this was his first EA game he has used.
June 14, 2016
I’m experiencing the same problem and am trying to follow your workaround but when I start Origin under my sons account I am not able to access the store. Has this been changed or do you refer to a different store? And does this workaround need and Xbox?
June 14, 2016
Yes, you would need an Xbox to download the FIFA demo. And yes, if you try to do anything from inside the origin program on the computer under a child account, everything is locked down.
June 14, 2016
That’s too bad… thanks for the quick reply man.
January 24, 2016
Finally got this sorted (after much useless twaddle from EA support (6 seperate support chats – several precious life hrs wasted) – they’re a waste of time (ie script regurgitating droids “Hi, I’m certain I can solve this for you” yeah, right) – EA prohibits them from giving any assistance on this underage issue period – even a hint – avoid them).
Problem: both my son’s email account AND Origin account was set to his birthday (aged 12) – hence EA barred him from online Star Wars game play.
Solution: [beforehand ensure the xbox permissions are configured for game access – via both adult xbox ID account and your child’s xbox account] Changed birthdates on both his accounts, unlinked my son’s Origin account from his xbox live account, logged into the xbox via my son’s account and launched Star Wars game – the game automatically reconnected with his EA Origin acccount and (presumably) loaded the amended Origin profile config (ie with the new birth date).
NOTE: some write that config changes can take 2 or so days. This may be the case as when I first tried this process it failed – several days later (3 or 4) I accessed my son’s Origin account (via the downloadable PC app) and unlinked (ie click: revoke) his xbox live account. Then logged into xbox (using son’s ID) and launched the game. NETWORK CONNECTION WORKED (finally !!).
January 24, 2016
Thanks Zach – really helpful – as an addendum to Zach’s great guide, here’s my supplementary synopsis on how (eventually) I got it to work, refer to Zach’s guide for the fine details (ie config locations, sub-menus etc)…
*******************************************************
Finally got this sorted (after much useless twaddle from EA support (6 seperate support chats – several precious life hrs wasted) – they’re a waste of time (ie script regurgitating droids “Hi, I’m certain I can solve this for you” yeah, right) – EA prohibits them from giving any assistance on this underage issue period – even a tiny hint of assistance – avoid them).
Problem: both my son’s email account AND Origin account were set to his birthday (aged 12) – hence EA barred him from online Star Wars game play.
Solution:
NB [beforehand ensure xbox permissions allow game access for your child via BOTH the parent’s xbox ID account profile AND your child’s xbox account profile].
1. Changed birthdates on both my son’s accounts (ie. xbox live email account AND Origin account).
2. Logged into my son’s Origin account (via the downloadable PC app) and unlinked (ie click: revoke) his xbox live account.
3. Logged into the xbox via my son’s account and launched Star Wars game – the game automatically reconnected with his EA Origin acccount and (presumably) loaded the amended Origin profile config (ie with the new birth date) – and hey presto – network connection established and online gaming can commence!!
NOTE: some write that email/Origin account config changes can take 2 or so days to update. This may well be the case as when I first tried this process it failed – several days later (3 or 4) I accessed my son’s Origin account (as step 2 above) and unlinked his xbox live account again. Then logged back into xbox (using son’s ID) and launched the game. NETWORK CONNECTION WORKED (finally !!).
January 25, 2016
You are a lifesaver. Thanks for posting this.
January 25, 2016
Thanks for the extended notes! Great job!
February 8, 2016
Zach, thank you so much. Not only did you solve the problem for my son, but you very clearly laid out why this is happening, so I can be sure that the problem is not that I’ve set up the parental controls incorrectly. You are a life-saver!
February 12, 2016
Thanks for reading!
February 13, 2016
Wow! Thank you Zach! I wasn’t sure how I was going to get around this issue but one search came up with your recommendations. My son is with his dad watching Deadpool right now so when he gets home, he will be stoked! Followed your directions and presto! I’m not 100% sure I know how that worked but hey, it worked! Thanks again!
June 14, 2016
Just got my kid this game on PC as his birthday present and found out he isn’t able to play it… Had contact with EA on the phone and they told me the only options are to wait 2 years or to buy a new version and register it on my own account. I’m steaming mad, this cannot be real… is there anything I can do? Thanks EA for ruining my kids birthday!
December 25, 2016
Hey Zach! This article is a bit stale. I followed your directions to the letter, but it turns out that there isn’t actually a way to manually associate an EA account with an Xbox Gamertag anymore. It’s stupid, but apparently EA expects it to happen automatically now by matching the email address on the EA account and the email address on the Gamertag. Try as I might, though, I couldn’t convince my son’s Gamertag to associate with his EA account automatically.
I found a workaround, though. EA has killed all of the ways to manually associate a Gamertag with an EA account online or in the Origin application, but the method built into old Xbox 360 games still works! I logged into his Gamertag on my 360, booted up Dragon Age, signed in to his new EA account, and then voila! Gamertag associated with EA account!
So to review…
Change age on child’s Microsoft account (as Zach described)
Create new EA account with same email address and age (also as described)
Sign into an old Xbox 360 EA game, like Dragon Age, with child’s Gamertag.
Manually sign into child’s EA account in-game.
Reboot Xbox One
While rebooting, pray to whatever deity you may believe in.
(Hopefully) Profit!
Hope this helps someone not fight it all night like I just did!!! 🙂
May 1, 2017
And if you don’t own an Xbox 360…?
May 1, 2017
The original Dragon Age Origins is backward compatible and will run on the Xbox One. If you don’t have the game, it’s included in EA Access, which is $5 a month. You can subscribe, do the conversion, and then unsubscribe.
November 17, 2017
This process still works. I just did this to get my son into Battlefront 2 multiplayer. I used the Dragon Origins trick as i already have EA Access.
November 17, 2017
I’m so stoked that my little write-up is still helping people! 🙂
November 25, 2017
Dragon age confirmed for me as well!! so glad to be out of EA hell…star wars battlefront I and II are now fully playable. It was all high fives in the living room, thanks again!
November 25, 2017
So glad to hear it! 🙂
December 28, 2017
I just gave this a shot (after the Battlefront 2 fail) and when launching Dragon Age 2, it never asks for EA info. It just went straight to denying my login due to age restriction. I got that w/ both my kids accounts.
December 28, 2017
Try DA: Origins. I don’t remember DA2 having a manual login option. You can get DA:O as part of an EA Access subscription for $5.
December 29, 2017
Worked! Grabbed a 360 copy of Origins for a few bucks at Disc Traders and ran through both my kids accounts. It went through the login perfectly, then wen to their Xbones and verified that Battlefront 2 (and other EA titles) are now pulling their updated information.
Thanks a bunch! This information is GOLD!
September 16, 2017
Man that worked like a charm thanks. I have a happy kid now.
December 10, 2017
Hey Cam,
GUESS WHAT?!
Thanks to you, my brothers account is now working! 😛
I got Dragon Age Origins for free with Gold back then, so I downloaded it and did the unethical process of making a little boy into a man.
It works!
So let me just say this…
F*** U EA & MS!
December 10, 2017
Lets be fair, this is 100% EA… Microsoft lets the parents decide always…
December 26, 2016
Cam Soper, thank you so much for your workaround. Zach, thank you for the original article.
I wanted to post, thanking you, and letting people know that your process worked perfectly for my son and I today. I had spent several hours last night on the internet researching the XBOX gamertag link to an age restricted EA origin account (Anonymous email value) problem. I found several solutions posted, including yours.
Today I ran through each ‘solution’ without success, until yours. It worked. I actually ran to our local GameStop store to buy a used copy of Dragon Age for the XBOX 360. I confirm that the steps you listed work and I agree that in the current EA Origin client app (on the Windows PC) there seems to be no way to manually associate the new EA account (Step 2) with the Xbox Gamertag.
The key to the whole process is your Steps 3 and 4 and using an EA game (like Dragon Age) that allows you to manually sign into the EA server by giving you a screen that has an email field that is not pre-filled and locked, so that you can type in the email for your new EA Account (Step 2) and password.
Other EA games (on both the XBOX ONE and 360) had a EA Account screen, but the email field was always pre-filled (with the restricted Anonymous email value) and locked.
I hope that your steps work for others that are having this problem.
December 29, 2016
Just wanted to second this – thanks to both Zach and Chris – exactly what I was looking for this morning to help out my son.
Thanks to both of you.
January 11, 2017
You don’t need to set a fake D.O.B for your child, a much easier way to let your kids play Battlefront is to sign in to the Xbox One with an Adult xbox live account.
When the child launches Battlefront or any other restricted game, content etc you get a prompt asking who will give permission, you select the adult account and sign in with your password or pass key and then select the option for ‘Always’ or ‘Just this once’.
I did it last night and my kid can now play Battlefront without having to fake is date of birth or leaving him vulnerable to adult content.
https://support.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-one/security/grant-exception-child-content-limits
January 11, 2017
This will not allow your kids to play online. Activsion has taken it upon themselves to be a parent to your kids and prevent them from playing online even if you allow online in your kids managed profile.
Activsion are wrong to do this and should stay out of parenting.
January 17, 2017
how do i read the article
January 17, 2017
i cant seem to find it on the page
January 17, 2017
Try refreshing a bunch o times!
March 5, 2017
Last time I check teen ment 13-18yrs old not 16+ not only does EA think they know better then the child’s parent but they also don’t know what a teen is
May 27, 2017
Microsoft and EA execs should be fired for their sheer stupidity and in-usability of their platforms. I should have bought a PlayStation.
February 24, 2018
I just installed Star Wars Battlefront on our PC for my son. When he tried to play online it said he wasn’t allowed because he didn’t have certain credentials to access it. I created an online account with Origin and gave his correct birthdate, he is 12. I did not know at the time his birthdate would not allow him to play online. Is there anyway to change his birthdate info on Origin?
December 21, 2018
The Dragon Age server no longer appear to exist… Anyone have any other ways? I am in big trouble in a few days because I didn’t know or pay attention to the age on the Xbox account when i first launched Battlefront on my 2nd account which apparently was a child account! I got it fixed with Microsoft and now 2K games work… but i still can’t play EA games.