EA’s open-world Star Wars game now cancelled, smaller-scale project in the works

EA’s open-world Star Wars game has now been cancelled. After what could be described as a tumultuous last few years, Star Wars video game news is getting even worse today. Head below for all the details.

Visceral Games — known for its sci-fi horror experience Dead Space — was in the middle of development on a Star Wars game since at least 2016. It was apparently going to be a more linear action/adventure experience with Uncharted director Amy Hennig at the helm — which, if you ask me, sounded like a winning combo for the most part. After the company was shuttered by EA in 2017, its Star Wars title codenamed Ragtag also disappeared with it. At least to some degree, that is.

Open-World Star Wars

At the time of closing Visceral, EA announced that its Vancouver development office would be rolling over art assets from Ragtag into a new Star Wars game entirely. EA felt that a move to a more open-world experience would better suit the current climate in gaming and began work on a new game set in a similar universe. It was known internally as Orca.

What Could Have Been

According to reports, Orca was still early in development but was set in a semi open-world where players would take on the role of a scoundrel or bounty hunter. There were several open-world planets planned for exploration and various factions across the Star Wars mythos players could align themselves with. In other words, it sounded like a Fallout-esque game, or maybe even closer to what we are seeing in The Outer Worlds, at least in terms of format.

Small-Scale Project in the Works

Those familiar with Orca claim the game’s long development turnover wasn’t making sense with EA corporate and has now been shelved. However, it does sound as though it is moving towards a smaller-scale Star Wars title with a potential 2020 release date. That could coincide with rumored releases of next generation consoles, but there doesn’t appear to be any other details. While this could mean EA is now pivoting back to a game that’s more like what Visceral had started, reports suggest many developers at the studio are hoping Orca gets reignited at some point after the new project is complete.

Jedi: Fallen Order

Either way, EA is going to have some direct competition coming down the pipeline very soon. Titanfall creator Respawn has already announced that it is in the middle of a brand new Star Wars game known as Jedi: Fallen Order. It takes place during the “dark times” when the Jedi are being hunted. You will be playing as a Jedi, by the sounds of it. Last we heard it’s expected to hit shelves during the 2019 holiday season.

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