A brand new Ubisoft Star Wars game, made in partnership with Lucasfilm Games, is in the works.
According to Wired, the title - the first to be developed outside EA since 2012 - will be developed by Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment. Details on the new Star Wars title are pretty thin on the ground at the moment, but it's already been confirmed as an open-world title that is being developed within Massive's Snowdrop engine, which has previously been used to create The Division 2 and South Park: The Fractured But Whole.
Julian Gerighty, director of The Division 2 and The Crew, will be the game's creative director. There's currently no word on when or where within the Star Wars universe the game will be set.
The game's very existence comes as a surprise, particularly as EA's exclusive rights to develop Star Wars games weren't expected to expire for a few years yet. It's possible that Lucasfilm Games has managed to strike a deal on that front, and Disney's Sean Shoptaw says that "EA has been and will continue to be a very strategic and important partner" for the media giant.
Whatever shape this game takes, it's clear that it's still in the very early stages of development. Listings for an unannounced project on Massive's careers page, which Wired reports are tied to the Star Wars game, are extremely vague, although, a senior character artist role suggests that the game will feature "highly detailed realistic-looking characters, creatures, and NPCs." Elsewhere, the senior game designer role asks for "experience working with enemy AI/NPCs in a shooter or Action Adventure game," as well as an "absolute passion for playing and making games, especially RPG and Action Adventure games." Given the use of the Snowdrop Engine and Gerighty's previous work on The Division, then, the project could be shaping up to be a photorealistic action-adventure game similar to The Division.
Lucasfilm Games has already had a busy week, yesterday announcing an Indiana Jones game in development from MachineGames. There's little information available on that front either, beyond a teaser trailer featuring Jones' iconic hat and bullwhip.
Still, a new Indy game and a Star Wars game announced in the same week? We thought Christmas was weeks ago...
Can't wait to return to a galaxy far, far away? Here are the best Star Wars games.
