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Star Wars Open World Game Cancelled: Report

Star Wars Open World Game Cancelled: Report

By Rishi Alwani | Updated: 16 January 2019 19:30 IST

The Star Wars game was codenamed Orca, pictured above: Star Wars Battlefront (2015)

Highlights

The game was in early development
It was cancelled to make way for a less ambitious project
2019 will see Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order release

EA has cancelled an upcoming Star Wars open world game that was announced at the time it shuttered its Visceral Games studio back in 2017. According to a report from Kotaku, it was being developed at EA Vancouver. The Star Wars game was codenamed Orca and was in early development. Players would don the role of a scoundrel (much like the cancelled Amy Hennig Star Wars game) or a bounty hunter that would work with multiple factions in the series' universe. Orca's cancellation appears to be the result of poor planning with regards of EA's road map for the next few years.

"When EA's top decision-makers looked at their road map for the next few years, they decided that they needed something earlier than the planned release date for Orca, according to two people familiar with what happened," writes Kotaku's Jason Schreier.

"So they cancelled Orca in favour of a smaller-scale Star Wars project that's now aimed for much sooner—likely, late 2020, which also happens to be around the time that I've heard next-gen consoles will launch. (Might be a bit earlier; might be a bit later. From what I've heard, next-gen plans are definitely still in flux.)"

Schreier's track record is second to none, unearthing details about games like Fallout 76 being a survival game before Bethesda's own announcement as well as reporting on Assassin's Creed titles before Ubisoft had officially revealed them. Safe to say, this is just as accurate.

However it doesn't mean that Star Wars fans are left out in the cold. EA still has a Star Wars game on the way for this year. And no, it isn't another Star Wars Battlefront title.

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order is the next Star Wars game from EA and its closer than you think. The Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order release date and story details have been leaked on Reddit. The game will be out in November and takes place five years after the Revenge of the Sith which ties in to what we already know, that Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order's events are set between Episodes III and IV. Its protagonist is Cal, a palawan who survived Order 66. His mentor is a woman named Ceres. Furthermore, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order may also involve the Ninth Sister and/or Night Sisters though by the Redditor's own admission, they could not remember exact details.

The user, who attended a Disney-hosted Star Wars marketing presentation, also posted details regarding Star Wars Episode IX and The Mandalorian. These were independently verified by Star Wars leaks and news site MakingStarWars, which has a solid track record. This suggests that the information regarding Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order could be accurate.

At EA Play, EA's pre-E3 2018 event, studio boss Vince Zampella said it would be available in the holiday season of 2019. In addition to this, he said the game would take place between Star Wars Episodes III and IV at a time when the Jedi were hunted down. Previously, Respawn announced that the game would be in third-person and is helmed by God of War 3 director Stig Asmussen.

That said, it would be interesting to see how monetisation would work in Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order in the wake of Star Wars Battlefront 2's many issues. Given how well Respawn's last game, Titanfall 2managed micro-transactions, it's safe to say it would be a cosmetic-only affair.

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