2019-04-01_Official_Xbox_Magazine

shooter. The first Garden Warfare was

released in 2014 and the second in

2016, and both seemed to be strong

successes for EA, so it could well be

the right time to continue the series.

Star turn

News on EA’s stable of Star Wars titles

is a little more troubling. First off, the

company has cancelled its untitled

single-player open-world game. This

project originally started life in 2013

at Visceral Games, as a story-driven,

linear adventure under the direction

of Uncharted co-creator Amy Hennig

and Assassin’s Creed co-creator Jade

Raymond. But it was first cancelled in

2017 when that studio was suddenly

closed for good.

Both Hennig and Raymond have

since left EA, and the project

was salvaged and retooled by EA

Worldwide Studios into an open-world

game, intended to have a longer

lifespan and more freedom for players

than the original vision – but now

that version has been cancelled,

too. Reportedly, the project’s being

reworked again, with a tighter focus

and smaller scale that EA hope will

allow it to finally launch in 2020.

The publisher has also revealed

that it’s aiming to release Star Wars

Jedi: Fallen Order in autumn 2019.

Announced at last year’s E3, all we

really know about this title is that it’s

third-person, and under development

by a newly formed team at Respawn

Entertainment, with only a logo

shown at its initial reveal. We were

certainly left with the impression that

it would still be a long way off, so a

2019 release date seems ambitious

• but Apex Legends has proven that
  Respawn can be unpredictable.
  EA’s overall relationship with the
  Star Wars licence seems increasingly
  difficult. When the company made its
  exclusivity deal with Disney in 2013,
  it seemed a no-brainer – with a new
  trilogy coming, the franchise was set
  to be more relevant than ever, and a
  long history of great Star Wars games
  proved the concept. But in the time
  since, it seems to have become more
  a burden than a boon to EA.
  While mobile title Galaxy Of Heroes
  and pre-existing PC MMORPG The Old
  Republic appear to be ticking along,
  the publisher has only released two
  Star Wars games for consoles in the
  six years since the deal: Battlefront
  and Battlefront II. The former, despite
  pre-release excitement, received
  mixed reviews; the latter was a PR
  disaster, criticised so widely for its
  microtransactions that EA was forced

“Star Wars

seems to have

become more

a burden than a

boon to EA”

ABOVE Star Wars
Battlefront II’s
lootboxes and
slow progression
system proved
hugely
unpopular.

OXM

SAYS

INSIDER ELECTRONIC ARTS

Just when we though, a)

Fortnite can’t be beaten and,

b) nobody needs another

battle royale, Apex Legends

came out of nowhere. It’s

proof that you don’t need

licensed franchises to

capture gamers’ hearts and

minds. Good move, EA.

Chris

Burke

Apex Legends’ surprise

launch was a great move, but

EA needs to be careful how it

handles the game’s sudden

success. Its business model

first, gameplay second

strategy has run too many

iconic franchises into the

ground – it’s time to change.

Robin

Valentine

The sudden announcement

and release of Apex Legends

was an incredibly good move.

By doing it this way, EA

circumvented the inevitable

backlash it would have got

for appearing to follow trends

by putting out a battle royale

game. Smart.

Adam

Bryant

010 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE