Respawn, the developer behind Jedi: Fallen Order and Apex Legends, is making three new video games set in the Star War universe.
Alongside another entry in the Star Wars Jedi series, which is expected to be a follow-up to 2019’s Fallen Order, Respawn is also developing a Star Wars first-person shooter and a strategy game.
The Star Wars Jedi title will be helmed by game director Stig Asmussen, who previously worked on Fallen Order and God of War 3, EA announced.
Development of the untitled first-person shooter, meanwhile, is being led by Peter Hirschmann, who previously contributed to the original Star Wars: Battlefront games, Star Wars: Force Unleashed, and the first Medal of Honor. Work on the game has just started.
Respawn will also be developing a new Star Wars strategy game in collaboration with Bit Reactor, a newly-formed studio founded by developers of the XCOM and Civilization series. Greg Foerstch, who previously worked as art director on XCOM 2 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown, as well as contributed to a slate of Civilization titles, will be leading the project.
“Working with Lucasfilm Games on a new FPS in the Star Wars galaxy is a dream come true for me, as this is a story I have always wanted to tell,” said Hirschmann.
“We are huge fans of Star Wars here at Respawn and we’re thrilled to work with Lucasfilm Games on new titles that we have wanted to make for years,” added Vince Zampella, the founder of Respawn, who will oversee the new titles.
EA gave no expected release dates or platform details about the upcoming games, other than saying work on all three has already begun.
Analysis: Star Wars can get the variety it deserves
For all its acclaim, popularity, and source material, Star Wars has had a mixed relationship with video games for the last several years. After Disney signed an exclusivity contract with EA in 2013, the publisher has had (practically) sole control over Star Wars video games, some of which have fared better than others.
But besides debacles like Battlefront 2’s aggressive loot box system and bug-ridden launch, EA’s Star Wars offerings have also been decidedly narrow. The 2020 flight sim Star Wars: Squadrons brought some variety to the roster, but each of EA’s recent video games set in the galaxy far, far away have been action-focused shooters (or lightsaber swingers). The news that Respawn has got three more Star Wars games in the works gives us some hope they’ll be different.
While we can expect the Jedi: Fallen Order follow-up to build upon the original’s Metroidvania gameplay and narrative emphasis, who knows where the other two untitled games will go. There’s every chance Respawn will lean into its expertise in kinetic combat, which it’s refined through the Titanfall series and Apex Legends, to produce a Star Wars FPS that goes beyond the regular competitive multiplayer shooting we’ve seen in the Battlefront series.
Similarly, the scope for a new Star Wars strategy title is immense. Whether the veterans at Bit Reactor lean into their experience of XCOM’s real-time tactics or Civilization’s turn-based 4X gameplay, any scale of strategy will be welcome. The last strategy game set in the Star Wars universe was Empire at War, and although its mix of RTS space warfare and grand campaigning was received well, it did release all the way back in 2006.
EA has played it safe over the last nine years. Its Star Wars games have been set in familiar locations, and made to appeal to the widest market. Given the sheer quantity of source material available, it can afford to be a little more outlandish, and Respawn’s current bet on Star Wars might be a sign of that.
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