It’s hard to say what this means exactly, but EA has expressed its desire to improve and right the ship amongst the controversy it has received recently. For Star Wars in particular, there’s evidence of this with the new Squadrons title, which means there could be more enthusiast or niche Star Wars titles going into development for the future. EA’s track record should serve as a good gauge for what the publisher should truly double down on moving forward.
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Battlefront: Improving Existing Franchises
There was some initial hope when EA took over the licensing rights for Star Wars games after LucasArts shut down in 2013. Upon the divisive restructuring of Star Wars canon by Disney, all further Star Wars games would be handle by EA’s subsidiaries like DICE, BioWare, Visceral Games, and Respawn Entertainment. The developers behind Battlefield and Titanfall were making Star Wars games, which at the time and even now is still an exciting proposition. Pairing Battlefield-style gunplay and destruction paired with Star Wars military ordinance is exactly why Battlefront has great potential. But there have been notable ups and downs since then with Battlefront.
Battlefront 1 and 2 saw their fair share of controversy in different ways. 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront saw ire from fans because of its complete lack of single-player story as well as any narrative importance. Then in 2017, Battlefront 2 saw an equal (if not more) amount of ire from fans for its predatory microtransactions that provided in-game advantages. It’s unfortunate but needs to be addressed in the future if more Battlefront games are to be developed, with the current version of the game providing a solid mockup for what a presumable Battlefront 3 should look like. Rather than planning an ambitious content plan across months, DICE would do well to focus on the content coming to the game initially and make sure there aren’t any systems like loot boxes that significantly alter the game’s status.
Jedi Fallen Order: Investing in Compelling Narratives
On the other side, there’s some lasting hope from games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a single-player-only RPG set in the Star Wars universe. Respawn Entertainment, known for its work on Titanfall and Apex Legends, came out of nowhere with a third-person Star Wars RPG inspired by Dark Souls and Metroid. This was the first narrative-driven single-player Star Wars story to come from the EA partnership, from a developer who until 2019 had only developed shooters. Fallen Order came out to mostly positive reviews, completely devoid of any controversy from microtransactions or anything that severely hampered the gameplay experience.
These are the kind of games that epitomize the Star Wars universe in video games, and are exactly the style of games EA should double-down into. Narrative-driven experiences in the Star Wars universe, canon or not, are exactly why fans love the franchise. As much as the Battlefront series has been an interesting soldier’s perspective, most fans want to be placed in the hero’s shoes. Cal Kestis in Jedi: Fallen Order was the perfect opportunity because he was basically a newly-minted Jedi, justifying progression and learning new abilities in a brand new universe. There’s a reason why fans expressed interest in the cancelled Darth Maul standalone game as well. It doesn’t matter if it’s a hero or villain, as there’s a clear interest from fans for independent stories in the Star Wars universe from characters old and new.
RELATED: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 Needs to Address These Major Issues
Squadrons: Finding Something Completely New
Then there are the games that are completely new, whether it’s a new gameplay concept or a story as yet untold in the Star Wars universe. EA has given a glimpse of this already with Squadrons, a squad-based dogfighting epic set in the Star Wars universe between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Developing games dedicated to a specific niche in the Star Wars universe, like Squadrons or even earlier with Shadows of the Empire, proves that there’s merit in finding new areas of the universe worth exploring in depth. Where Fallen Order placed players in the shoes of a Jedi hero, games like Squadrons find heroes in specific corners of the Star Wars universe often unexplored.
One interesting concept would be to explore narrative episode-based content similar to Life is Strange or any of the Telltale stories like The Walking Dead. Star Wars games have done well in the past with depicting certain perspectives from around the universe, which is perfect for choice-based narrative games. Another option EA could explore is a story-based shooter akin to that of Star Wars: Republic Commando, or like the cancelled Star Wars game being developed by Visceral Games. There’s potential in experimentation in the Star Wars universe that EA clearly recognizes and would do well to move forward with.
Although EA has several times cancelled these ambitious titles, this effort to “double-down” could be in response to the fans expressing interest in cancelled concepts that are eventually reported on by news outlets and leaks. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order could be a reflection of this desire as well, perhaps testing the waters with one of EA’s best development studios on a very different Star Wars game compared to Battlefront. Now that games like Squadrons are coming out, EA could right the ship in a big way.
MORE: Here’s How Star Wars: Squadrons Fits on the Canon Timeline
