What’s in store for the future of Star Wars video games? Here’s what to expect in 2021.
During the Disney Investor Day 2020 event, Disney made several massive announcements pertaining to the future of Star Wars, with a large number of new properties set to be developed and released over the next few years, however, there was no mention of future Star Wars video games.
Over the past few years, Star Wars has put out several massive video games, such as Battlefront 2 back in 2017, a game still receiving big updates to this day, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, released in the tail end of 2019 that was the second-highest grossing game of the past year.
More recently, Vader Immortal VR was released in 2019, as well as Star Wars: Squadrons, an aerial combat game announced in June of this past year which was released this past October.
While the Investor Day event may have been disheartening for Star Wars fans hoping for news about the release of future games, there still is good news, as many sources from Disney and Lucasfilm have confirmed that many games are currently in development and big things can be expected.
In fact, Matt Martin, one of the story developers at Lucasfilm, had this to say following the Investor Day Event:
It's crazy to think that even after all of those Star Wars #DisneyInvestorDay day announcements that's only a fraction of the overall Star Wars storytelling going on! We've got video games, publishing, VR, Disney Parks, and more--with the High Republic beginning next month! pic.twitter.com/qY3rmeKZC6
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) December 11, 2020
As of right now, no new Star Wars games have been announced for 2021 yet. The only confirmed game is technically a re-release of sorts, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which combines all LEGO: Star Wars games for Ep. I through IX into one package. There’s no set date for that game just yet.
But while nothing specific in relation to Star Wars has been announced, such as upcoming titles, game types or release dates, the tweet at least confirms that there is plenty more in the works, including video games.
One of the reasons they held back on announcing any of them could be due to complications with development due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. However, just because nothing has been officially announced doesn’t mean we can’t expect a major game to be released this year.
As EA already showed, games can be quickly announced and then released within a short window of a few months, such as Squadrons, which was revealed in June and released this past October.
We do know for a fact that a sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is in development, as well as Star Wars Battlefront III, although how far along those games are remains to be seen.
Many sources have noted that EA are looking to develop Star Wars games with original IP as well, so while we are getting sequels to the established and popular brands, they are likely going to develop new franchises as well.
Based off of the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, we will very likely be getting more single-player games going forward, with rumors of a Mandalorian or bounty hunter-type game in the works, or even a revival of the Force Unleashed franchise or the unreleased Star Wars: 1313.
The bottom line is, while no specific release dates have been announced, there are several projects currently in the works, and we can likely expect an announcement of the next upcoming game in a few months, and one may possibly be released at the end of 2021 or early 2022.