Ubisoft Massive Is Developing an Open-World Star Wars Game

Move Over EA, There's a New Star Wars Game Dev in Town

For years now it was believed that we would never see a Star Wars game from any video game developer other than EA; however, that is all about to change. With the exclusive license expiring soon, Ubisoft has announced that they are working on an open-world Star Wars video game. The game will hopefully release around the same time that the EA license officially expires in 2023.

Ubisoft Massive

Massive Entertainment is a Swedish video game developer currently owned by Ubisoft. This isn't the team that normally works on Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, or any of Ubisoft's main video game series. However, Massive did work on Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Massive is responsible for hits like Tom Clancy's The Division 2 and World in Conflict. Massive is also working on an Avatar video game, in preparation for the sequel that is due to release in 2022.

What We Know So Far

The new open-world Star Wars game is in the very early stages of development, and a release date has yet been announced. The storyline also remains a mystery. So, what exactly do we know?

We know that the game will be using the Snowdrop game engine, the same game engine that was used in The Division 2.

In the January 13th blog post, Douglas Reilly, vice-president of LucasFilm Game, stated:

"We know that fans of Star Wars value the feeling of immersion - of being transported into the Star Wars galaxy and moving through richly detailed environments."

This gives us an idea into how the game will be put together. Expect something closer to what you would experience in a game like Elder Scrolls: Skyrim than what you would experience in older Star War games such as The Force Unleashed.

This doesn't mean EA will not be making more Star Wars games in the future. In fact, Lucasfilm Games has revealed that EA will continue to work on Star Wars games; however, their exclusive license will still expire soon, opening the door for other developers to have their turn with the Star Wars IP.

One thing we do know is exactly how Ubisoft handles open-world games. Ubisoft has redefined the open-world genre for the past decade. The Far Cry and Assassin's Creed franchises have created building blocks that other developers have used to create their games. Expect to see many Ubisoft-like features in the new Star Wars game, like unlock-able fast travel points and collectibles to keep you busy for dozens of hours.

When Can We Play?

While no release date has been announced yet, we won't be able to get our hands on this new Star Wars game from Ubisoft until at least 2023. That's when the EA exclusive license expires.

Despite Ubisoft pushing out a new Assassin's Creed game every year or two, Ubisoft are known to take their time with game development. Ubisoft is capable of releasing a new game every year or two because they have so many teams working on the same IP. 2023 may be the earliest we will get to see their version of the Star Wars universe; however, it could be much longer before we get to play.

Will Ubisoft Massive Meet Our Expectations?

Ubisoft may be able to create the Star Wars game we deserve. EA's biggest accomplishment in the Star Wars franchise is arguably Jedi: Fallen Order. Knights of the Old Republic is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time. Will Ubisoft be able to top Bioware's best efforts, or will they disappoint us the way EA has all these years?