Three New Star Wars Games Announced, Including Jedi: Fallen Order Sequel
It's a big day for "Star Wars" fans who like to explore a galaxy far, far away beyond the movies and TV shows, as Lucasfilm Games has announced not one, but three games officially in development with Electonic Arts and Respawn Entertainment, the company behind the wildly popular "Apex Legends." While none of the "Star Wars" games have official titles yet, one of them is going to be the sequel to 2019's much-acclaimed "Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order," which had been all but confirmed up to this point but now is officially official.
Stig Asmussen ("God of War III") is returning as game director for the "Jedi Fallen Order" sequel. Beyond that, a currently untitled shooter game is in development, as is an also-untitled strategy game. Peter Hirschmann ("Medal of Honor") is on board as game director for this new first-person shooter. Perhaps most interestingly, a new studio that will be headed up by games industry veteran Greg Foertsch ("XCOM") will create the new "Star Wars" strategy game, developed through a production collaboration between Respawn and his company Bit Reactor.
Douglas Reilly, VP of Lucasfilm Games, said the following:
"We are excited to continue working with the superbly talented teams at Respawn. They have demonstrated excellence in telling epic Star Wars stories along with best-in-class gameplay across different genres and we are looking forward to bringing more amazing experiences to the galaxy far, far away."
How Is This Going To Work?
EA has a long-standing relationship with Lucasfilm, having created the more recent "Battlefront" games, as well as "Jedi Fallen Order." But this is a new era with new partnerships. Vince Zampella, group GM and founder of Respawn, will oversee this new phase of EA's relationship with Lucasfilm. Zampella also made a pretty interesting pitch to fans in his statement, as they seemingly need some new talent to make these games happen.
"We are huge fans of Star Wars and we are thrilled to work with Lucasfilm Games on new titles that we have wanted to make for years," said Zampella. "If you want to make great Star Wars games, you should come join us on our journey."
Hirschmann added, "Working with Lucasfilm Games on a new FPS in the Star Wars galaxy is a dream come true for me, as this is a story I have always wanted to tell." Hirschmann had previously worked as VP of development at LucasArts before the studio was shut down following the Disney purchase of Lucasfilm. He was also the executive producer on the original "Star Wars Battlefront" games, which should be music to the ears of fans.
What Are The Mystery Games?
Now the big question; what on Earth are these two mystery games going to be? For now, we don't have all that much information to go on, particularly for the strategy game, so it's tough to speculate at all. Though with Respawn involved we could expect something in the same vein as "XCOM." As for the shooter? That's where things get a bit more interesting, especially with Hirschmann on board.
The more recent "Battlefront" games were just standard, modern shooters in the "Star Wars" universe. Developed with Dice, they didn't pack the same magic as the originals, which were truly remarkable multiplayer accomplishments of their era. Without doing too much wishful thinking, perhaps we could be getting another title cut from a similar cloth, even if it's not necessarily a fresh revival of the classic title.
Outside of these titles, we have the free-to-play "Star Wars: Hunters" on the way at some point this year. We also got that exquisite trailer for "Star Wars: Eclipse," though because of the studio involved there has been some controversy, in addition to zero official indication as to when we can expect to see it. Not to mention the open-world "Star Wars" game that was confirmed to be in development with Ubisoft last year. Lots to look forward to, folks. We'll be sure to keep you posted as further details on these games are made available.