A new report claims that Electronic Arts canceled a previously unknownStar Warsproject in 2019. TheStar Warsproject is said to have been in development at EA Vancouver in partnership with Criterion. Codename “Viking,” the game would have been a spin-off of theStar Wars: Battlefrontseries with open-world elements. However, theStar Warsproject was apparently canceled once EA executives realized it wouldn’t be ready for release in time for the launch of next-gen consoles.
According to Kotaku’s exclusive reporting, theStar Warsgame’s existence and cancelation was confirmed through six different anonymous sources familiar with the project and EA’s “inner workings.” It’s unclear what drove the news about the cancelation public, as theStar Warsproject’s development was said to have ended in the first half of 2019.
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The story of project Viking’s development is as troubled as mostStar Warsgames at EA. Those familiar with the past 7 years ofStar Warsgames at EA know that Viking isn’t the firstStar Warsgame that’s been canceled. It’s, in fact, the thirdStar Warsgame to be killed off. Viking’s development can even be directly tied to that of the previous two canceled projects. Perhaps it carried over those projects' bad luck.
The first canceledStar Warsproject was codenamed Ragtag, made by Visceral Games andUncharted 2director Amy Hennig. EA canceled Ragtag in 2017, closing Visceral in the process. A new project using some of Ragtag’s assets went to EA Vancouver. This open-worldStar Warsgame, codenamed Orca, was then canceled in 2018. EA Vancouver then took on a small project, what would become Viking, for release in late 2020. This third game is what’s now been revealed to have been canceled as well.
EA Vancouver has now moved on to supporting BioWare and Respawn on their respective projects,AnthemandApex Legends, while Criterion is working on thelatest iteration ofNeed for Speed. The legacy of Visceral may truly now be put to bed.
The future ofStar Warsat Electronic Arts is certainly different than what it was in 2013, whenEA signed its partnership with Disney. The aspiration the publisher had for big, awesomeStar Warsgames in 2013 is exhausting for fans to look back on. Meanwhile, the twoStar Warsprojects EA now has in the works, a sequel toStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderand a reportedly smaller project at EA Motive, are much smaller in scale than previous plans. Maybe the next 10 years forStar Warsgames will work out better.
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