LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is officially out, and with positive critical and fan reception, it looks to mark the start of a bright new age for Star Wars games. With the days of Electronic Arts’ exclusive license behind us, Lucasfilm Games is hard at work at producing multiple new Star Wars experiences of all shapes and sizes.
From those a few months to years away, here’s a look at what we know about every Star Wars video game currently in development. Before we dive in, a quick nod to Star Wars: Hunters, the Zynga-developed arena battler that made a soft launch earlier in 2022 but will likely be expanding to future platforms later this year.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sequel
The most immediate game on the horizon is EA and Respawn Entertainment’s much-anticipated sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The 2019 release represented the welcomed introduction of a narrative-driven, single-player experience to the Star Wars landscape, taking hold of new protagonist Cal Kestis in search of rebuilding the Jedi Order after the events of Order 66.
Featuring visceral lightsaber combat, dense exploration of some previously uncharted land and a gripping story, Jedi: Fallen Order was a smash hit. Respawn was so confident of its success, in fact, that they reportedly started work on a sequel before the game was even in the public’s hands.
EA has officially confirmed the sequel’s development in the time since, but provided little word beyond the fact that it’s happening. Rumors indicate that a reveal is near, almost certain to be at this year’s Star Wars Celebration in late May. Beyond that, it even seems that a release could come as soon as holiday 2022, though more likely early 2023.
Regardless of when it comes, players can certainly look forward to wherever Cal’s journey will head next. And considering we just saw a BD droid in The Book of Boba Fett, he may be popping up elsewhere too.
Knights of the Old Republic remake
Announced with a cinematic trailer at a PlayStation Showcase back in September of 2021, a Knights of the Old Republic remake from Aspyr, the company that has brought many key Star Wars titles like Republic Commando and the Force Unleashed onto new platforms, is under development
Branded as a remake “from the ground up,” Aspyr will reportedly be re-imagining the Old Republic while also preserving the story that made the original RPG so iconic. Aspyr already has experience porting KOTOR, too, as they brought the game to mobile devices back in 2013/14.
Released almost two decades ago, KOTOR broke ground as the first RPG set in the Star Wars universe, transporting players to an ancient timeline before the days of the Galactic Civil War. Its success spawned a sequel, and more notably, The Old Republic, a Bioware-developed MMORPG that celebrated its ten-year anniversary with a new expansion earlier this year.
Little is known about this KOTOR remake at the time, though it is slated to be exclusive to the PS5 and PC, likely only temporarily. Work had been ongoing as of last September, meaning that a release is still a year or two away at least.
Star Wars: Eclipse
Certainly the most enticing entry on this list has to be Star Wars: Eclipse , the massive project from Quantic Dream that made its presence felt with a cinematic reveal trailer late last year.
The first Star Wars game set in the High Republic Era, the ambitious action-adventure title will take the decision-based focus of Quantic Dream’s previous entries like Detroit: Become Human to an entirely new scale. Players can expect to take hold of multiple different characters and storylines as they traverse one of Star Wars’ most expansive new time periods.
That is, assuming the game ultimately releases. Star Wars has a history of canceled projects and this one walks that line closer than any other. Quantic Dream has faced much scrutiny within the gaming industry for reports of its hazardous workplace culture. The trailer, consisting entirely of CGI, was believed to be a recruiting pitch from Quantic Dream to recruit new talent to the project.
All of that has resulted in some reports that the game’s release may be as far off as 2027, though others seem to indicate development is right on track. Only time will tell what ultimately happens with Star Wars: Eclipse, though its initial trailer gives fans something to be especially intrigued by, regardless of what the development troubles the game may face.
Respawn’s 2 additional projects
When it confirmed the existence of a Fallen Order sequel, Respawn also announced two more projects it was working on within the Star Wars universe, cementing itself as one of Lucasfilm Games’ premiere developers.
The first will likely see Respawn return to the roots it established with the widely-acclaimed Apex Legends and Titanfall through an unnamed, first-person shooter. Peter Hirschmann, executive producer of the original Battlefront games, has been put in charge of the project, noting that “he’s always been inspired by the classic Star Wars titles Dark Forces and Dark Forces II.”
In addition, one of Respawn’s newest satellite studios formed in the early part of this year, Bit Reactor, will be undertaking a strategy game, giving players a change of pace from some of the other projects on this list. Greg Foertsch, formerly of XCOM developer Firaxis, will be heading this project.
Ubisoft’s open-world game
Another enticing offering, developers of The Division franchise, Massive Entertainment are at work on an open-world Star Wars experience. This announcement coincided with that of Lucasfilm Games in 2021 as Disney was reportedly attracted to Massive’s ideas during a meeting about one of its other projects, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, set to be released later this year. Star Wars seamlessly came up in the conversation and both sides thought on the same wavelength, causing them to extend their partnership one step further.
If Ubisoft and Massive’s past works are any indication, fans can expect another “massive,” for the lack of a better word, open world with a fresh new Star Wars story built upon the Snowdrop Engine seen in The Division series. That sequel’s director, Julian Gerighty, is taking the reins of this development, with a currently unknown launch window, meaning it’s likely still a few years down the line.
Amy Hennig’s Skydance New Media game
Let’s cut right to the chase with the big news of the day, as Lucasfilm Games just announced a brand new Star Wars game in partnership with Amy Hennig’s Skydance New Media.
Now if that name sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Hennig was initially pegged to produce a Star Wars project all the way back in 2016, when she served as senior creative director at Visceral Games. However, Visceral was later shut down and so too was her Star Wars project. Hennig left EA to start her own company now known as Skydance Media. This game becomes Skydance’s second significant collaboration with Disney, as they were already announced to be working on a Marvel project as well.
However, Hennig’s initial game, dubbed Project Ragtag, deserves a narrative of its own. Featured in a 2016 E3 trailer envisioning the future of Star Wars games, Hennig partnered with some top level talent to produce what was described as a third person action adventure experience situated after Revenge of the Sith. We even got a little taste of gameplay footage in that trailer, indicating just how far development had gone.
The following year when EA dismantled Visceral, it announced that the Star Wars project would live on at EA Vancouver, albeit with an entirely new direction. It ultimately seemed to come down to a difference of opinion, with EA wanting to shift away from the “story-based, linear adventure” they so infamously criticized until Jedi: Fallen Order’s success. That change in approach did not resolve the rumored development troubles, though, as a short while later, the EA Vancouver game was canned, as was the spinoff project connected to it.
The game has remained untouched ever since, creating just a little bit of extra intrigue around just what Hennig’s new title will be. Could it be the remnants of that initial project, especially now with EA’s oversight out the window, or something entirely different? Well, the press release has those buzz words “narrative-driven, action adventure” at the very beginning, making me think we may finally see Hennig’s initial vision come to life. With her work on Uncharted as a backbone, there’s certainly a lot to look forward to, and considering much of the work may already be done, it might not be too far away either.
And that’s all of the Star Wars games currently in the works! It’s definitely an exciting time for Star Wars gamers of all kind. Now, we just have to patiently wait for these to start hitting shelves and for many more to come. Plus, there are plenty of bricks to build in the meantime.
What game are you most looking forward to? Let us know!