As a Star Wars fan myself, I have had mixed feelings regarding all of the Star Wars games we have gotten lately. Whilst the supply has not been lacking, I don’t think we have had a completely original Star Wars game since Battlefront 2 (which EA and Dice really dropped the ball on when they said they are stopping Battlefront 2 updates). Okay, the Fallen Order games have been good, but they don’t have the depth which Battlefront 2 and many of the Star Wars games had in the past. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was good too but such has been the advancement in video game technology over the past decade, I think it is crazy how we haven’t had a ground-breaking Star Wars video game. However, this, hopefully, is about to change. All video game studios now have the opportunity to use the Star Wars licence as EAs exclusivity over Star Wars games ended in 2023.
Unfortunately for EA, the Battlefront era was riddled with controversy due to in-game purchases and loot boxes etc which we will not go into here. The first Battlefront, despite the hype, was incredibly disappointing when the game was released. The second Battlefront was heading for the same way before EA did away with the in-game purchases after uproar from the community days before its release. The second Battlefront remains popular six years on, which is why it’s quite mind-blowing how EA decided not to continue updating the game, even with the depth of Star Wars planets and characters available to them.
However, the EA era has come to an end and we can expect a whole bunch of Star Wars games from now on.
Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection
Speaking of Star Wars Battlefront, last week we were treated to a surprise announcement that the original Star Wars Battlefront games are being re-released on PC, all major consoles and also on Switch on March 14th. On classic Battlefront 2, we are also being treated to two new heroes – Kit Fisto and Asajj Ventress! For those players who grew up playing the Battlefront games without access to the internet, this is dream stuff as both games will have full 64 player online multiplayer access. The original maps will be bigger and re-designed too. The popular hero assault mode will be on more maps in the re-release too. Originally, it was only possible to play Hero Assault on Tatooine, but it will now be available on all ground maps including Kashyyyk, Naboo, Death Star and Kamino.
There are some fans who are hoping that the game’s developers are testing how popular this re-release will be in the hope that if it’s successful, it will give the greenlight to a potential Battlefront 3 game. I for one would love a Battlefront 3, but I am not pinning my hopes on one being released any time soon.
Star Wars Outlaws
The game which all the OG Star Wars fans have pinned their hopes on, which still has a release date of later this year, is Star Wars: Outlaws. Forget the Jedi and their all encompassing goodness. In Outlaws, we play as a rogue scoundrel working for the galaxy’s various crime syndicates who are taking full advantage of the Empire’s rule. The game is set in between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, which gives players the opportunity to get back into the timeline of the original trilogy (what Star Wars fan isn’t thrilled about that)?
The aspect of Outlaws I am most excited for is the open world (although not a fully open narrative) and also the GTA-esque ‘wanted’ system which will hopefully see us being chased by the Empire and perhaps the Rebels given we will be working for crime syndicates. I also hope that perhaps the Rebels will also be working with criminal syndicates – a new conflicted character similar to Rogue One’s Cassian Endor would be good to explore, for example.
Recently, Ubisoft released a game-play demo and it has heightened the anticipation for the game massively. There are rumours on Reddit that Outlaws could be released in Summer, whilst others think it is more likely to see a November release. There are some who expect it to be delayed into 2025 too. Basically, we just don’t know when the release date will be, but we do expect it to be 2024.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake
One of only two truly RPG Star Wars games, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) is one of the best and most popular Star Wars games of all time. Recently re-released specifically for Nintendo Switch consoles, the original game was first released on the original Xbox before it was available on the PC.
The remake has been a long time coming but we can expect to finally get our hands on it at some point in 2025 (we hope). The announcement that the remake was underway occurred in 2021, so it has been a good long time. Several of the voice actors are coming back in the remake to reprise their original roles too, although several of the actors including John Cygan and Ed Asner will not be returning due to their deaths.
We expect that if the remake is a success, then don’t be surprised to see a remake of the second instalment in the series. We may even see a brand-new third game to make up the trilogy.
Star Wars Eclipse
Announced during the 2021 game awards with a video cinematic, Star Wars Eclipse should be the biggest game ever from video game design studio, Quantic Dream. Now, this one is still a few years away from being released, but this could become the greatest Star Wars game of all time in terms of scale and ambition.
It is going to be an action-adventure game with multiple playable characters where any of them could die at any given moment, no respawning here! If your character dies, their journey ends. You will then be randomly generated a new character as the game is expected to use brand new AI technology. You could begin with a jedi, but when he dies, you may end up as a rogue female smuggler with a brand-new storyline. The story adapts and evolves depending on what happens to your characters.
Set in the High Republic era, hundreds of years before Anakin Sykwalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, there will be thousands of Jedi, but it is expected that most of the game will be set in the outer-rim. In addition, the game will explore completely new planets. The game will become canon too. We do not know whether it will be an open-world game at this point. Of course, it would be incredible if it was, but we wouldn’t bet on it.
In addition, developers are known to scale back their game as the game gets closer towards launch date. Quantic Dream have a lot of work to do if their game can live up to the expectations which the studio themselves have set, but here’s hoping!
A Great Time to be a Gamer and Star Wars Fan
As well as the multiple potentially ground-breaking games to come, we are also a supporter of the smaller releases such as the Battlefront remakes. Personally, I hope we see a lot more Star Wars games which maybe don’t have the same expectations of the big studio games.
SlotsHawk has hinted at the possibility of a Star Wars themed slot game in the future, but the team here at TheXboxHub would love to see a game based around The Clone Wars and the Separatists perspective. However, no matter what happens, the future is looking very exciting for Star Wars loving gamers.
