Finally some good news: With the brushing aside of Kathleen Kennedy from the Star Wars franchise’s creative side and Dave Filoni taking the helm albeit unofficially, now it’s high time that the scourge of EA be scratched aside, buried into the depths of the Jedi Archives on Coruscant and a chance for Lucasfilm Games to be reborn again.
EA’S 10 years exclusivity license is ending in 2023. What kind of a smart decision is to single handedly give the reins of a legendary franchise –perhaps the most legendary of them all– to a company that’s known for its constantly declining quality of games and constant milking of its owned titles, is another question.
The TV side of things are already booming with the arrival of the Book of Boba Fett, and the upcoming movie and series projects: The Mandalorian - Season 3, Andor, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi (TV series), Untitled Star Wars project by Kevin Feige, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, New Star Wars trilogies, Acolyte, Lando, Bad Batch, Rangers of New Republic, New Star Wars anime Visions… not to mention dozens of books, hand-held console games, comics that continue to arrive. The list goes on forever.
Lucasfilm Games reactivated
Officially the legendary Lucasfilm Games a.k.a. Lucasarts was inactive since Disney stated in April 2013 that LucasArts will be shuttered in all but name, with the division remaining to manage licensing of Lucasfilm IP to third-party developers, chiefly Electronic Arts, and all in-house production being transferred to Disney Interactive Studios.
Since then, Disney has resurrected the Lucasfilm Games brand as the exclusive licensee of all Lucasfilm properties in the beginning of 2021.
Star Wars High Republic and more
There are eight Star Wars games that are presently in development. The projects are being developed by seven distinct studios, each well-known in their field, spanning across every major gaming platform.
They span the most popular genres, including action-adventure, strategy, first-person shooter, RPG, soulslike, arena battler, open-world, single-player, and multiplayer, and are available in a variety of formats, including free-to-play, full-priced, action-heavy, family-friendly, and adult.
Here are some of the highlights on the upcoming Star Wars game titles:
New open world Star Wars game is in development by Ubisoft
Good news: there's an open world Star Wars game that’s being worked on. Bad news: It’s being done by Ubisoft’s Massive studio. The one that did the bullet-sponge simulator Division games.
The game will be using the studio's Snowdrop engine. Development on the new game is said to have started nearly a year ago. It will have to wait for 2023 until it drops though, since EA still has exclusivity until then.
Because development on this new title is still in its early stages—Massive is even recruiting for it—details are few. The Division 2 and The Crew director Julian Gerighty will serve as the game's creative director. Apart from that, Lucasfilm Games hasn't disclosed anything about the game's characters or places in the Star Wars world.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 is coming
EA and Lucasfilm Games stated in early 2022 that a sequel to 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is in the works. Stig Asmussen, the same director and studio behind the first, is in charge of the sequel at Respawn Entertainment.
After the initial game exceeded EA's sales goals and went on to become the second best-selling Star Wars game of all time (in the United States) as of March 2021, Star Wars Jedi was previously revealed to be the start of a new franchise.
Fallen Order was a pivotal moment for Respawn, demonstrating the company's versatility outside first-person shooters and cementing its position as EA's primary Star Wars studio.
Remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Aspyr, the company behind previous Star Wars ports Republic Commando and Jedi Academy, is remaking BioWare's popular Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic. Remaking is the word to look out for here, not remastering.
According to senior producer Ryan Treadwell, the KOTOR remake, which was unveiled during Sony's PlayStation Showcase 2021, would keep the "integrity of story and character from the original." Developers from the Demon's Souls remake, Ghost of Tsushima, and Dragon Age: Inquisition, as well as the original KOTOR, are also on board.
Jennifer Hale, who played Bastila Shan in the first game, returns to reprise her role.
KOTOR was first published in 2003 for Xbox and PC, and is widely regarded as one of the finest RPGs of all time.
The Skywalker Saga or just another LEGO game
The Skywalker Saga is a family-friendly action-adventure that will be released on April 5. The Skywalker Saga is the greatest project yet for longstanding LEGO producer TT Games, as it retells all nine major Star Wars films.
The Skywalker Saga has been a long and supposedly tough journey. The game's development began in 2017, with a release date set for 2020. However, it would face a number of setbacks before finally debuting on April 5, 2022.
The Skywalker Saga is being developed by TT Games in an entirely new engine, with LEGO Dimensions co-director James McLoughlin at the helm. It'll be a "completely fresh" game so here's a taste of gameplay:
Star Wars Eclipse
Now this… this is the one that I’m most anticipating.
Star Wars Eclipse is a "intricately branching action-adventure game" in early development at Quantic Dream, the developers behind choice-heavy, narrative-driven titles Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human. It's the first Star Wars game set during the High Republic era.
With Eclipse, Quantic Dream promises to build on its history of branching narratives, claiming that the game "can be experienced in many ways, and puts the destinies of multiple playable characters in your hands." and each will have“their own story, abilities, and role to play in the tapestry of events that could alter the carefully balanced peace of the Outer Rim.”
It’s been described as “An uncharted section of the galaxy with never-before-seen species and planets to discover, the Outer Rim is rife with opportunity – and political tensions that could alter the fabric of peace. What will you do?” according to IGN in an earlier marketing copy.
Basically more politics, dialogues and interpersonal drama is awaiting us in the expanded universe of Star Wars.
The trailer itself is something to behold:
What’s next?
The universe of Star Wars is ever expanding, and much more so than it ever was in 2022.
There are two more upcoming Respawn games too, one a Strategy and the other is an FPS. The strategy game is led by 20-year Firaxis veteran Greg Foertsch. Foertsch told GamesIndustry.biz the studio is focused on “really blurring that line between what a strategy game is and what an action game is."
But that news is sadly taken down as of yet. We’ll never really know until we hear more.
