E3 officially began this year with EA’s press conference Saturday morning. For the most part, things went smoothly. There were new sports games, we saw the wonderful Andrea Renee host, and it finished with a closer look at Anthem. But somewhere in the middle, EA made a huge mistake. They announced a new Star Wars game.
Remember last year, when Star Wars: Battlefront II came out? Remember how it was panned so much for its horrible micro transaction model? It was so bad that not only did they remove all of it from the game, but it led to countries having meetings about the legality of micro transactions. Needless to say, it was a nightmare.
That wasn’t the only Star Wars gaming nightmare that happened last year. In October, EA cancelled Amy Hennig’s Star Wars game that she had been working on for years. The cancellation had meant the doom of the entire studio that was working on it. We were looking at a possible Star Wars game with an Uncharted flavor. Many people were more than upset at this news. It had brought back memories of Star Wars 1313, the other cancelled Star Wars game that people were looking forward to.
Not to mention, this was Todd Stashwick’s second time being taken off a high-profile game in a row. I mean, c’mon now, that guy is awesome! He deserves a good game. Hell, I’d settle for a released game.
Where was I? Oh right, Saturday.
So, I’m sitting on my bed, watching Andrea interview the head of Respawn Entertainment as he announces a brand-new Star Wars game titled Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. He then reveals that the game would take place between Episode 3 and 4 when the Jedi weren’t in a good place. But that’s about it. No trailer. No teaser trailer. Not even a logo. Just a name and a promise of a holiday 2019 release date. This doesn’t sit well with me.
If they had nothing to show for it, why say anything? EA of all publishers know how many things could go wrong. At this point, the best case scenario is they release the game late. I’m just afraid this new Star Wars title will join the list of the many games announced at E3 that will fall into development hell. And that happens to Star Wars fans again, EA will be in a very bad place.
