EA has drawn a lot of flak in recent times, especially with the handling of microtransactions in Star Wars: Battlefront 2. That, and the general lack of quality Star Wars game titles on the market (in the eyes of the fandom’s unforgiving individuals) prompted us to write an article about potential contenders to take over the publisher role.
But within EA themselves, an exciting Uncharted-inspired Star Wars project has been brewing. The team’s showreel from E3 2016 did provide a brief glimpse of it, and while details remained under wraps, the Amy Hennig-led game was said to be too linear by the bosses. Eventually, the untitled title was passed off to Ubisoft Vancouver, and has all but fell off the grid after news of its troubled development surfaced.
And as if things aren’t despairing enough, it seems the streak of bad news just keeps going.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Hennig has revealed that she actually parted ways with EA back in January 2018, and was in the midst of starting up her new, independent studio. She also took the chance to clear the air, stating that the Star Wars project will be shelved for an indefinite amount of time, with plans to go down the VR route instead.
I’m working independently and staying independent. I just started my own little independent studio and am consulting with some people. I’m hoping to bring some people on board, I would love to have a little company of about six to eight people, 15 at most, and do some more VR stuff – I’m consulting with some VR companies and doing a ton of research because I haven’t played a lot to immerse myself in it.
So yeah, I’m not doing anything Star Wars. And, who knows what the future may hold, but that project is on the shelf now.
The Vancouver studio is working on something pretty different. It’s really not… Y’know, once you go more open world it’s such a different game to the one we were making. Everybody loved what we were doing and I’d love to see us resurrect that somehow, but it’s complicated.
The news certainly comes as a pity for fans, but if it’s of any consolation, at least there seem to be more promising works to look forward to in the near future. And based on Hennig’s past record with Uncharted? Top-notch writing and compelling narratives are all in the bag.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Natalie
Yonk
