EA is reportedly going to release a new Star Wars shooter later this year. This will be the third year in a row that EA has released a Star Wars game since acquiring the license in 2013, and it will be the company's third Star Wars shooter next to the two Battlefront games.
The publisher has been widely criticized over the last decade for how it has handled the Star Wars franchise after canceled games and missteps. The new era of Star Wars games got off on the wrong foot after EA's first Battlefront game was found to be lacking in content. The sequel came with a plethora of content, including a campaign, but drew significant controversy for its handling of in-game monetization like loot boxes. The issue caused so much attention that various governments stepped in to look at the situation. Since then, many games have reverted to battle es instead of loot crates. EA's take on the series began to improve when Respawn released Jedi: Fallen Order, which was praised for its story and gameplay.
The new leak comes from Knights of the Old Republic games on the current console. GameRant corroborated this rumor, giving it some more weight. The current rumor suggests that EA is developing a small-scale Star Wars shooter, akin to something like 2020's Squadrons. It doesn't sound like a new Battlefront, as it's being developed on Unreal Engine 4, as opposed to DICE's Frostbite. The game has also reportedly been in development for 2 years but it's unknown if it's a first or third person shooter. According to the rumor, the shooter will release at the end of 2021 on all the major platforms except Nintendo Switch.
Further details are scarce but we know that EA has more plans for Star Wars games. The publisher will not be the only one working on games in the popular sci-fi franchise anymore as Disney is allowing publishers like Ubisoft to take a swing at Star Wars. EA is expected to continue to make sequels to popular titles like Jedi: Fallen Order but nothing has been confirmed, nor is there any idea when to expect it.
Should EA release a new Star Wars shooter this year, it'll be going up against EA's other shooter franchise, Battlefield. The publisher has confirmed that a new entry in the military shooter franchise will release this holiday season. Battlefield 6 is expected to feature things like cross-play, 128 player matches, and unprecedented levels of destruction.
Source: OrcaOrcaisnotalone (via GameRant)
