EA’s Star Wars Shooter Has Been Cancelled
Summary
- EA cancels new Star Wars FPS; focusing on larger scale and established IPs like Star Wars: Jedi franchise.
- Approximately 670 individuals losing jobs in shocking wave of layoffs hitting gaming industry.
- Fans disappointed as Respawn’s Mandalorian shooter canceled, signaling shift away from linear FPS in Star Wars universe.
EA has canceled a new Star Wars first-person shooter title that was in development at Respawn Entertainment. While job listings for the title appeared back in 2022, recent reports gave players some insight into the game’s story and gameplay, with it being focused on a brand-new Mandalorian character and featuring a more linear level design, contrasting Respawn’s open-world Star Wars: Jedi games.
As reported by IGN, EA has announced a major company restructuring that will unfortunately see approximately 670 individuals, or 5% of its workforce, losing their jobs. This is the latest in a shocking wave of layoffs to hit the gaming industry, with major studios at PlayStation and Microsoft recently undergoing similar shake-ups as well.
10 Best First-Person Shooters Set In The Star Wars Universe
Over the many years, there have been quite a few first-person shooters set in the Star Wars universe ranging across many different genres.
EA Is Reportedly Focusing On Larger Scale Games
Several Disney And Marvel Projects Are Still In The Works
As part of EA’s reorganization, Respawn’s linear Mandalorian shooter was canceled, with the company reportedly planning a shift toward massive communities, live service games, and large open-world games, with reports of the Star Wars: Jedi franchise continuing. According to IGN‘s report, not all of the team that was working on Respawn’s shooter are being let go, with many being reassigned to the third Star Wars: Jedi title, the upcoming Marvel games, Iron Man and Black Panther, and Apex Legends.
The news of EA’s plans going forward also suggests that the studio is focusing largely on established ideas and IPs, which doesn’t bode well for the idea of original characters’ stories being the focus of future Star Wars titles. While Cal Kestis is now an established, extremely popular character, it’s hard to say whether EA would take a risk on telling his story with a game like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order following this new restructuring, as the idea of a brand-new Force-sensitive who was not an established character like Luke Skywalker, for example, would be seen as a financial risk.
While there wasn’t much information surrounding the title, news of the Mandalorian shooter’s cancelation is sure to disappoint fans. Ever since Boba Fett’s debut in the original Star Wars trilogy, the Mandalorians have been fan-favorite characters, and recent shows such as The Mandalorian and The Clone Wars have only increased their popularity. For fans of a certain era of Star Wars gaming, the news that there won’t be a return to more linear first-person shooters in the franchise is also disappointing, as titles such as Star Wars: Dark Forces were extremely well received at their time, with many still hoping Kyle Katarn’s story would be reintegrated into Disney’s new Star Wars canon at some point, and these titles were directly cited as inspiration for Respawn’s FPS in recent job listings.
