The release of 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order became one of the most notable titles for both Respawn Entertainment and the wider Star Wars franchise. On the heels of its success, the studio is now prepping for the launch of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, its highly anticipated sequel. As fans await what's to come with the follow-up entry, Respawn is also focusing its efforts on another ambitious project: a Star Wars first-person shooter.
EA has been the exclusive publisher of Star Wars games for years, and Fallen Order marked an interesting addition to the roster. Although mostly known for the Titanfall games and Apex Legends, Respawn found massive success early on with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order crossing 10 million players in just a few months. With the studio undoubtedly looking to garner a similar reception through its sequel, details around the Star Wars FPS project remain unclear with little being confirmed. Nevertheless, certain details have surfaced online since the project's announcement, and it already paints an intriguing picture.
Respawn is Taking Inspiration from the Classics
One of the biggest indicators for how the Star Wars FPS project will take shape is its inspiration, Dark Forces and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2. The late 90s titles have grown to be cult classics, and some fans have even made playable 4K mods of Star Wars: Dark Forces, signifying a continuing interest in the older IP. This builds expectations for what a Dark Forces-inspired modern Star Wars game could look like. Respawn Entertainment is no stranger to FPS games considering its history on titles like Titanfall 2 and Apex Legends, so it wouldn't be hard to imagine another promising shooter from the company.
Another interesting aspect of Respawn's untitled project is its reported multiplayer. While the studio hasn't officially announced any live-service elements, one of its job vacancies for a "Senior Gameplay Software Engineer" tied to the Star Wars FPS specified the candidate should have experience working on a multiplayer game. Respawn has also stated the Star Wars FPS game is a "story-driven single-player" experience in several other vacancies, hinting that it might follow a structure similar to Titanfall 2 that includes both a narrative single-player focus and multiplayer aspects.
The company will be bringing its Star Wars FPS project to life in Unreal Engine 5. Since the unveiling of the latest version of Unreal, developers like CD Projekt Red have been prioritizing Unreal Engine 5 over even their own game engines. More recently, fans got a glimpse of Unreal Engine 5's potential via an incredible facial animation showcase for Hellblade 2. The idea that a similar scale could be achieved in the Star Wars universe is bound to pique the interest of many across the industry, but only time will tell how all of this shapes Respawn's next big AAA game.
Of course, it should be noted that it's going to be a long while until the studio announces any story details or teasers. At the time of writing, Respawn is hiring 11 roles for its Star Wars FPS game, all exclusively at its Los Angeles studio. Given the company is ramping up hiring for the project and Respawn just opened up a third studio to seemingly focus on Apex Legends, it's clear there might be other top priorities following the release of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Still, if a possible third entry in the Star Wars Jedi series comes after Survivor, it's looking like a promising few years ahead for fans of the franchise and Respawn Entertainment.
Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars FPS is currently in development.