Trouble has been brewing within Electronic Arts, with the publisher reportedly canceling one of their planned blockbuster Star Wars games. Despite this tumultuous saga, EA wants to make sure that all is apparently well. The publisher told Variety that they were still “fully committed” to making games for the Star Wars franchise. Nothing to see here, folks.
For those unfamiliar with the story, EA is said to have shut down production for an open-world Star Wars game codenamed “Orca.” This project was refashioned from the Visceral Games project “Ragtag,” which not only was canceled but led to EA shutting down the entire company. Since EA acquired the licensing rights to the Lucasfilm-Disney franchise, the only two triple-A titles that the company released are Star Wars Battlefront and its 2017 sequel.
Those two titles from DICE have caused controversies themselves, the former with its season pass and the latter with its use of loot boxes and microtransactions. Couple all of this together and you have a checkered history of EA’s handling of the rights. The only other project confirmed to be in development is Jedi: Fallen Order from Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment. EA hasn’t revealed anything about the game other than its title.
With all of this in mind, it is easy to approach EA’s statement to Variety with skepticism. EA announced their ambitious plans for Star Wars with grandiose fervor, but that enthusiasm has only produced two big games since then. Any word on the current relationship between Disney and EA would be pure speculation, but most fans have guessed that it is contemptuous.
We’ll have to wait until the next E3 (or rather, EA’s next event that happens to be near E3) to see how serious EA is about this “commitment.” By then, we’ll be due a proper look at Jedi: Fallen Order. Or maybe EA will cancel another thing, and announce it through another awkward interview in the audience with Vince Zampella.
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