While there are sadly no new Star Wars space shooters in development (that we know about), that’s not for a lack of trying. In 2016, for example, the studio behind Rebel Galaxy put this video together for a pitch to EA to make exactly what we’re asking for.
Double Damage is the team responsible, and they’re headed by Travis Baldree, who co-founded Runic Games and had a big part in Torchlight’s development.
“This was back in 2016, and we pitched a modernised take on X-Wing with all the classic bits”, Baldree tells Kotaku. Their idea was to retain the idea of a campaign, but also adjust the old X-Wing formula to suit modern audiences, like adding pilot aids and control modifications to suit control pads, as well as adding the ability to save a mission’s progress at any point (constantly restarting 60-minute missions after failing at the 57-minute mark can stay in 1993, thanks).
“It was a long-shot, and we had near-nil hopes that it would be seriously considered, but we probably did it to please ourselves rather than out of any hope that it would get greenlit.”
It took Double Damage around 2-3 weeks to put the video together, using assets “cobbled together from a variety of sources” (Rebel Galaxy players will recognise some of the UI on show here). “EA was very gracious in listening, but it never came to anything, and we moved on.”
As you can see below, it looks cool! And also has a neat idea the originals never had; at around 2:24 you can see that the player is able to jump between different ships on the same mission.
But alas, it was not to be, and all we’ve got left in 2017 is to play through Criterion’s starfighter sections in the Battlefront games and imagine.
Comments
12 responses to “Here’s A 2016 Pitch Video For A New Star Wars Space Shooter”
I wonder why they weren’t interested. As an old timey wing commander player I would’ve jumped on this!
Agreed, a single player space combat, exploration and trading sim set in the Star Wars universe is one of the things the market is begging for. That and a decent single player RPG with good story. Leave out the microtransactions and retain strong RPG elements and you’ve got yourself a winner.
I just want the combat to be honest. Give me a campaign with missions and I’m happy.
Maybe the licensing costs with Disney don’t make games like that profitable?
You can kind of picture, the people from EA looking into this.
“Oh it looks exactly like Battlefront 2”. Put an X in the little tick box and goes home not caring about anything because the person or people looking at it couldn’t differentiate it from what was in battlefront 2. Not to mention they probably weren’t gamers so they could not tell it was intending to fill a void that is still empty in this genre today(Elite Dangerous being the exception). But hey… it looks like Battlefront 2.
People wonder why Star Citizen is making so much money. Well its pretty much because big companies just can’t see the need for a decent space sim and many enthusiasts tire of endlessly waiting for something that won’t come to fruition. I think Star Citizen/Squadron 42 wouldn’t take as long too, if they actually had decent competition out there. Because there isn’t, they can take as long as they need to.
That’s what i think anyway.
I would have loved a game like this. Instead… i am left with playing Star Citizen 3.0 and Battlefront 2 to cover my needs…. sigh.
I’m still playing Freespace 2. It’s pretty incredible with mods.
“Doesn’t our Star Wars MMO have a space mini-game? I remember we ordered the devs stop bothering with it, because it didn’t make a million people subscribe straight out of the gate. Hence*, nobody wants a Star Wars space shooter.”
*It’s EA, you know they’d use ‘hence’ incorrectly.
Well, then you’ll love their pitch video from last year!
https://youtu.be/Hy5kXCm2ct0
And then you’ll see the date it was posted and get really sad, just like I did. But at least you can still play Rebel Galaxy, which is a really neat game.
Wow, that looks really awesome. An X-Wing (or better yet – TIE Fighter!) style game with some modern concessions and even jumping between ships would be pretty fun. The short video posted looked really promising. Real shame it wasn’t picked up.
Makes me wish Rogue Leaders would get a release.
Rebel Galaxy was a fun little space game, so they knew what they were doing.
As for EA, yeah they are clearly only focused on multiplayer
It looks like a video game, not a game as a service. It needs more monetisation. Maybe if you add a pack of 100 blaster bolts for $5.99, and start off as a janitor with the option to buy randomised crates with a small chance to provide you with a starship.