It’s believed that EA has decided to axe its plans to release an open-world, narrative-driven Star Wars game.
The company had announced it was working on an open-world Star Wars game that would be focused on gameplay and narrative rather than shoot-outs, and yeah, it sounded like the game people actually really wanted.
However, earlier this week Kotaku reported that the game had been cancelled.
Kotaku explained the game was being developed under the project name “Orca,” and was in its development infancy.
Although not much is known about what the project was planned to be, Kotaku‘s sources have reported it would “involve playing as a scoundrel or bounty hunter who could explore various open-world planets and work with different factions across the Star Wars universe.”
It’s also claimed that the project has been canned because of its planned release date, with EA instead favouring a “smaller-scale” Star Wars game to release in 2020.
Since reports of the cancellation flooded the internet, EA has issued a statement.
Speaking to GameSpot, EA said: “There’s been speculation overnight about one of our Star Wars projects. As a natural part of the creative process, the great work by our team in Vancouver continues and will evolve into future Star Wars content and games.
“We’re fully committed to making more Star Wars games, we’re very excited about Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order from Respawn, and we’ll share more about our new projects when the time is right.”
The somewhat confusing response makes it sounds as though, yes, the game is very much over. However, it sounds like the teams and assets that have already been developed might be repurposed for future projects.
Over on Twitter, people are crying out for anyone other than EA to take over the future of Star Wars games.
The funniest thing about EA is that they say they are dedicated to releasing Star Wars games, but they cancel more Star Wars games than what they release. ???
— Jay (@DNS_pyromidz) January 18, 2019
@Disney @starwars you are really hurting the gaming industry by letting EA have rights to such a prestigious title. Please stop this!
— shadeblackpaw (@Shade_aF) January 18, 2019
Only time will tell what the future holds for Star Wars games…
Featured Image Credit: EA/Disney.