Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars FPS will take inspiration from some popular classics, the company has revealed. The EA-owned studio is currently developing multiple Star Wars games and several other projects, according to its previous disclosures and insider reports.
In early March, Respawn Creative Director Ryan Lastimosa announced he was leaving EA after a 13-year stint with the company. Since then, his former studio went on an apparent hiring spree, advertising nearly 50 open roles at its Los Angeles and Vancouver offices, as well as several hybrid positions open to applicants across the country.
Nearly half of those LinkedIn job listings, encompassing roles ranging from level designers and artists to cinematic leads and animators, pertain to Respawn's upcoming Star Wars FPS, with all of them stating that the upcoming game is inspired by 90s classics such as Star Wars: Dark Forces and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2. EA's January 2022 announcement of three Star Wars games was coy with the details, mentioning nothing in the way of inspirations for any one of them. However, it did tout the yet-to-be-unveiled FPS as a story-driven experience, which these newly emerged listings reaffirm, explicitly stating that this is going to be a single-player game. The postings also point to Unreal Engine 5 as Respawn's engine of choice for its Star Wars FPS, although that detail was already revealed by the company's recruiters back in summer 2022.
Respawn's official website has been advertising 11 additional roles pertaining to the Star Wars FPS as of March 23. The contents of those listings match their LinkedIn counterparts, underlining that the upcoming game will take inspiration from LucasArts' Dark Forces shooters. Both of those titles enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive critical response in the 90s, according to aggregator data, with many reviewers praising their blend of action and puzzle-solving.
While Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was much more clearly inspired by the likes of Dark Souls and Metroid Prime, Respawn's first-ever Star Wars game also made a fairly successful attempt at delivering gameplay that focused on action while still offering variety with plentiful puzzle and platforming portions. Its incoming sequel will do much of the same, with EA's studio previously revealing that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor also features "wide-open" planet exploration segments.
Apart from its Fallen Order follow-up and this single-player FPS, Respawn is currently also developing a Star Wars strategy game. This trio of titles could feasibly be followed by another single-player experience set in a galaxy far, far away, with Respawn Game Director Stig Asmussen recently stating that he always wanted the Star Wars Jedi games to be a trilogy.
Respawn's Star Wars FPS is currently in development.
Source: Respawn Entertainment/LinkedIn, eXputer