Blake Jorgensen: Visceral’s Star Wars Game Is Years Away.
EA’s Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen has noted that the game being made by their Visceral Games division won’t be ready for a while. This announcement directly discredits a recent rumor regarding another hypothetical Star Wars game project.
From IGN:
Speaking to shareholders in EA’s Q3 2016 earnings call, Jorgensen was asked how important it was to reduce “less profitable or non-profitable titles” in the company’s portfolio. He went on to explain that the company was investing in some action-based games, which is when he revealed the release window news.
“We are down to less than 15 major SKUs,” said Jorgensen. “And that feels like a good size of the business and we are obviously announcing that we are investing in some action-based SKUs by bringing people like Jade Raymond and Amy Hennig into our organization to help build those. And those are obviously a few years out in our SKU plan.”
Amy Hennig, Jade Raymond, and the rest of the team at Visceral are still hard at work on the development of the game. Given that it won’t come out for another year or two, there’s a good chance that the game might be tied to the Han Solo movie (as one of our informants have previously told us).
On an incidental note, I should also take this moment to mention that the game’s release date being a few years from now directly debunks a recent “leak” about a hypothetical Republic Commando sequel/reboot. The person who came up with it said that Visceral’s game would be coming out in 2016, and that the supposed Imperial Commando game would be released in the following year, following a reveal trailer at this year’s E3. So between EA having their presentation before E3 and Hennig’s direct statement explaining that the movie won’t be done for a while, that rumor can safely be laid to rest.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
We want that damned Wookiee game that Lucas shot down.
come on bring back to life SW 1313 that game looked amazing
They said that it wasn’t 1313, but have implied that it’s something of a spiritual successor to what that game could have been (read: an Uncharted-like game set in the GFFA).
I’d love to see them revisit 1313, though.
– Pomojema
star wars galaxies 2. Please.
Fine by me. Don’t rush it. Give Amy some real time to give us a great story.
That Darth maul game looked pretty damn cool I’d buy that shit in a heartbeat.
Not surprised. Since its a Han Solo game its probably going to be a tie in of some kind with the Han Solo spin-off film.
Man, to be honest, they missed a HUGE opportunity here with a new RPG or an Open World game! It’s already too late now, I really don’t understand why they didn’t finish 1313 for the Force Awakens or something along those lines. It’s a shame really. That’s probably the only thing I dislike about Disney, ok, they are probably going to make an amazing game with Visceral studios, but the franchise needs a game right now, because there are people who are searching for Star Wars game and Battlefront just isn’t good enough, first and foremost because it’s not Force based and secondly because it’s just a Multiplayer.
Unfortunately, there’s narrower profit on RPGs — so this might be an indication they won’t do it. :/
I’d love a Obsidian developed Star Wars RPG done through subcontracting with EA.
Well, RPGs overall might not have as many players as COD has, but it’s not far behind. And with the Star Wars Hype that was around TFA, they simply missed the opportunity.
Yeah, they were cautious — I expect media properties to pick up somewhat.
RPGs tend to be more expensive due to the variety of writing, nonlinear nature, and diversity of art/audio assets. The expectation for longer playable hours than COD but with a smaller audience also drives profit margins thinner.
Crowdfunding (plus studio backing) an isometric RPG would be one unconventional approach that I’d adore.
Yeah it’s a bummer, but best is yet to come for Star Wars games: http://nerdist.com/virtual-reality-star-wars-is-coming-and-its-attracting-big-filmmakers/
New knights of the old Republic style game would be awesome, don’t mind what time line they choose. Must rival mass effect rpg : )
I used to work with Jade way back when, in her early days of game development with EA. It was a bust of a title, but she’s a great mind and a better person, really cares about quality. She should help create a damn fine Star Wars game.
Why should we trust anyone at this moment? They want to keep it a secret, so they will say anything to throw us off the scent. I want to believe.
Am i the only one to read EA and let off a huge SIGH? money hungry, rush games and pay to win… they ruin a lot of games.