Would Star Wars be what it is today without the gaming industry? Hard to know as video games helped to keep the George Lucas franchise alive for quite a few years, specifically between 1983 to 1999 when Episode I: The Phantom Menace finally arrived in theaters. Great comic book sagas, although not canonical anymore, also filled the void left by the movies, but only video games could allow fans to truly experience Star Wars – from piloting a starship to wielding a lightsaber, games have let us be part of that universe.
For the next few years, fans will be well-fed when it comes to games, as there are currently six new Star Wars projects in the works with very different approaches from each other. Are we entering the best era of Star Wars in gaming? Only time will tell. Here is everything we know about the six Star Wars games in development.
Knights of the Old Republic Remake
In September of 2021, during a PlayStation Showcase, Sony drove Star Wars fans crazy with the unexpected announcement of a remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the critically acclaimed RPG released back in 2003. The remake was handed to Aspyr Media, the developer responsible for porting some classic Star Wars games to new consoles, such as Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Republic Commando, and even the original KOTOR.
Ryan Treadwell, the lead producer at Aspyr, commented on the development, “Nearly 20 years after it first debuted, the original KOTOR is still one of the most beloved games of all time. And even as Star Wars travels to new horizons, we know the community is as eager as ever to return to this iconic era of storytelling and action.” According to Bloomberg, things don’t seem to be going great behind the scenes, though, as the remake was moved to Saber Interactive studios (Evil Dead: The Game) last year for unknown reasons.
Hopefully, this switch doesn’t affect the final product, and Knights of the Old Republic gets a remake worthy of its relevance. New players deserve the chance to experience the game with updated mechanics and get introduced to a Star Wars universe that doesn’t revolve around the Skywalker family. KOTOR’s story takes place over 4,000 years before the events of the original trilogy and lets players make game-changing choices as they face two renegade Jedi Knights around the galaxy. The remake is set to debut as a PlayStation exclusive but has no official date yet.
Star Wars Eclipse
Star Wars Eclipse was announced with a jaw-dropping cinematic trailer during The Game Awards in 2021. Helmed by Quantic Dream, the developer behind Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, the game is defined as an action-adventure narrative with multiple characters. Like the other established games from Quantic, we will be able to change the events in the story based on our in-game decisions. David Cage, Quantic Dream’s founder, told IGN that Eclipse is their most ambitious project and it won’t be just “a skin of Detroit,” as Star Wars has “a very different setting” from our reality.
Judging by the developer’s history, we can expect a heartbreaking story to be unraveled through layered characters. Eclipse takes place during the High Republic era, considered the golden age for the Jedi Order and consequently a peaceful time in the galaxy. I’m really curious to see how that is going to work in the new canon and which menace will come out of it, especially since it’s a period of Star Wars that hasn’t been explored in the latest productions. Star Wars Eclipse has no release date or platforms confirmed yet.
Untitled FPS From Respawn
The partnership between Star Wars and Electronic Arts seems to be far from over, as they already have announced not one but two upcoming titles, still in early development. The first game is a first-person shooter from Respawn Entertainment, the developer behind both Jedi: Fallen Order, and Jedi: Survivor, with Peter Hirschmann leading as Game Director. Star Wars fans might know him from the very first Battlefront games and one of my personal favorites, The Force Unleashed. “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,” said Hirschmann.
It’s hard not to have high expectations for this one, given Respawn’s experience with FPS, and they’ve delivered two of my favorite entries in the genre – Titanfall and Apex Legends – which leaves me to wonder if we will finally get the bounty hunter adventure that was taken from us when Star Wars: 1313 got canceled? Well, it’s going to take some time to find out since there’s no title or release window for the game yet.
Untitled Strategy Game From Respawn
The second project announced by Electronic Arts is a strategy-based game produced by Respawn and developed by Bit Reactor, the recently established studio founded by XCOM and Civilization veterans.
Just like the previous game in this list, there’s not much information surrounding this title, such as when it will release, or which time period it will take place in the Star Wars universe. As it’s still in very early development, it’s hard to tell what it would look like, but we’re expecting to see a turn-based tactics game with online features, something similar to what we saw in XCOM 2. That’d definitely bring some fresh air to Star Wars, especially after all of the third-person-combat productions we’ve received lately.
Untitled Open World Game From Ubisoft
Our fifth upcoming project in this list is an open-world game developed by Massive Entertainment, the Ubisoft studio responsible for Far Cry 3 and the promising Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Announced over two years ago, the game still has no title, release date, or platforms confirmed, but that could change in the next few months as Ubisoft Creative Director Julian Gerighty (Tom Clancy’s The Division 2) teased on Twitter that “2023 is going to be huge.” I wouldn’t be surprised if a first trailer comes out later this year as well, considering that in December 2022, Massive was looking for playtesters for the project.
The possibilities are endless for an open-world Star Wars and I hope Massive takes its name seriously by bringing the richest world we could ever explore, in size and content. A variety of missions and different ways to play the game are basic aspects that studios seem to be failing to understand these days, like in the recent Hogwarts Legacy. Let’s hope this title truly allows us to traverse the galaxy far, far away.
Untitled Adventure Game with Amy Hennig
Announced in April 2022, this upcoming Star Wars game will be an action-adventure focused on narrative with a brand new story. This title is headed by Skydance New Media, the studio led by the acclaimed Creative Director and writer of the Uncharted series Amy Hennig. Douglas Reilly, Vice President of Lucasfilm Games shared, “(Skydance’s) vision for making inviting, cinematic interactive entertainment makes this collaboration very exciting. We’re working hard with their team of experienced and talented developers, and we’re looking forward to sharing more with Star Wars fans when the time is right.”
As a huge fan of Uncharted, I’ve got to say this is the project I’m looking forward to the most, but not just because of the Naughty Dog games: let’s not forget that Amy Hennig was involved in a Star Wars title as Creative Director before, the highly anticipated codename Project Ragtag, sadly canceled in 2019. The linear game was being developed by Visceral Games until its shutdown by EA in 2017, the title then moved to EA Vancouver and Motive Studio (Star Wars: Squadrons), but got canceled two years later.
In Hennig’s untold story, we would follow a team during a large-scale heist, taking place briefly after the events of Episode IV: A New Hope. It’s unlikely that she’s going to repeat the same pitch for this new project, but based on her previous plans and what we’ve seen her do with the Uncharted series, I’m predicting this one will be an action-packed game with cinematic storytelling.
