The end result was the cancelation of Star Wars: Battlefront 3.
"It now looked like the April 2009 street date could not be met," he said. "And the October milestone was not going to be met either."Įverybody pretty much knows how the story goes from here.
Although LucasArts and Free Radical agreed to a new street date, the studio continued to fail to meet milestone dates.
Ellis supposedly told LucasArts that Free Radical wouldn't be able to meet development milestones for 2008. The final kicker was the studio missing new assigned dates. Additionally, maps "generally tested poorly with no focus for action." Haze becoming a PS3-exclusive affirmed LucasArts' belief that the studio's engine was not compatible with the Xbox 360 which could explain why several game modes, according to the source, were not implemented and the only functioning gameplay was team-based free-for-all. Initially, Free Radical claimed it was a US/UK kit difference, but when we asked to FedEx one of their working machines to the US for a build review, they declined." "For much of 2007, Xbox 360 builds simply did not work. "In December 2007, Free Radical still did not have simple AI working in levels," the source said. The second reason, he believes, is that Free Radical "underestimated" or "misrepresented" its ability to meet dates. The first was that Free Radical's sci-fi shooter Haze was late by more than a year, which the source claimed took resources away from Battlefront 3's development.
In doing so, he also listed three primary reasons why Battlefront 3 was canceled. Speaking anonymously to GameSpot, the former employee estimated it was "75 percent of a mediocre game." Since then, a former LucasArts employee has stepped up to the plate, calling Ellis' statement "bullsh*t". Later rumors suggested that Battlefront IV might have actually been Star Wars Battlefront Online, an MMO based around Battlefront‘s style of gameplay.It's the old million dollar question: why was Star Wars: Battlefront 3 canceled? Last week, more speculation arose when Free Radical Design co-founder Steve Ellis said Battlefront 3 was 99% complete when it was canceled due to "financial reasons."Īs you can imagine, this started a frenzy among fans who wondered why LucasArts would do such a thing, especially with the game so near to completion. Btw those games arent brand new, they were released in the 90s Last edited by M2B 12:52pm 11. They werent published by EA, Battlefront EA is published by EA so itll be on Origin. There were even rumors that Free Radical had done preliminary concept design work for a potential Battlefront IV (!!), thanks to some concept art that surfaced, though this was never even remotely confirmed as plausible. There have been 4 brand new Star Wars games added to Steam Maybe there is hope after all. Sadly, it was all postmortem leakage, since Free Radical was forced to close its doors in ’08 (the company was eventually purchased by Crytek). (See for yourself, below.) Xbox 360 screens later surfaced showing some impressive loading and menu screens. Also in 2009, Kotaku got its hands on some leaked video footage of Free Radical’s Battlefront III in action, which looked pretty frikkin’ spectacular. Kotaku posted concept art of this “Dark Obi-Wan” in 2009. It’s also unknown why Lucasarts didn’t work again with Pandemic Studios, who crafted the first two games.įree Radical’s version of the game is believed to have been a departure from the battles seen in the films, with richer gameplay that incorporated both ground and orbital fighting in the same instead battlefields, and scenarios that opted for a “what if?” approach that included a Sith version of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Development studio Free Radical Design (best known for the TimeSplitters series and PS3 exclusive Haze) is known to have spent approximately two years working on the game, before Lucasarts pulled the plug on them for unknown reasons. Not that it’s been idling in limbo - far from it. One of the more major changes is replacing the jump packs with things like the R5D4 or anti infantry turret, to give the game a more tactical and grounded feel instead of just.
You’d think Lucasarts would have been all over a third installment to such a lucrative franchise, but here we are six years since the last game was released (not counting a trio of mobile games), and we have yet to see a next-gen Battlefront. Star Wars Battlefront Gameplay Rework is a mod that changes things like the decks or weapons to make them feel more unique/more enjoyable.
Its addictive gameplay got a serious upgrade one year later with Battlefront II, which introduced playable Jedi, updated graphics, and a slew of bigger, badder battlefields. With its combination of familiar Star Wars locations, races, weapons, and vehicles, and fast-paced, any-way-you-want-it gameplay was the game that fans never knew they always wanted. Star Wars: Battlefront took gamers by surprise when it released in 2004.