Video game fans have been waiting patiently for the new "Star Wars" game from Electronic Arts (EA). It appears as though that will happen at some point, although there have been some events which have stalled momentum and changed the project's direction. That has included Visceral Games being shut down after working to develop a particular type of "Star Wars" game. In addition, Amy Hennig, who had been at the helm of the project, left as the story she and her team were making was shelved. Still, it looks like an open world "Star Wars" project is moving forward and could include quite a bit of Hennig and her team's work.
Motive Studios' general manager Jade Raymond is making sure of it.
'Star Wars' project moving forward
Just last month, Amy Hennig announced that she had left EA this past January. Hennig left behind the story-driven "Star Wars" project that had been in development at Visceral. The project was moved to Motive Studios with Jade Raymond as general manager. She provided some insight into who is involved in the new "Star Wars" project.
Comic Book reported that Raymond talked to Game Informer about how the project has developed so far. She spoke highly of the team of people that will be working on the open world game, calling it "a mix of people from the original team and people who we supplemented."
Even after Amy Hennig's departure, there's still a lot of talented people working on EA's ambitious #StarWars open-world experience. https://t.co/szK6soHvb4 pic.twitter.com/bEfkymh4JB
— ComicBook NOW! (@ComicBookNOW) July 2, 2018
Raymond said that some of the individuals working on this untitled project include people who worked on "Sleeping Dogs," "Prototype," and a newer IP that was more "open world." In addition, there are members of the team who worked on some previous hit games, including the "Need for Speed," "SSX," and "Skate" titles.
Previous artwork, assets to be used
Not only is there a great mix of people working on the new project, but it also looks like the original work that Hennig's team developed won't be completely disbanded. While the game concept is different overall, it may still incorporate some of the artwork assets that were developed by Hennig and Visceral Games.
Raymond said: "we have three terabytes of Star Wars artwork" and added, "there is a lot of really good work there." She mentioned that she wasn't sure how much she could say about it, but that they do have a goal of making sure to use that. That's good news, as it sounds like there are some interesting creatures, characters, and other concepts that can be added to the newer open world project.
Motive Studios was involved in conjunction with Criterion Games in making the "Star Wars: Battlefront II" title. The 2017 sequel game won the Best Online Multiplayer award from the Game Critics Awards and was the second best-selling video game title in November behind "Call of Duty: WWII." The game incorporated characters, vehicles, settings, and stories from pretty much all of the "Star Wars" films -- including the prequels.
So far, there is no definitive answer regarding the potential release date for this next open world "Star Wars" game.