After years of EA exclusivity, the world of Star Wars in gaming has finally opened up for other developers to explore. Assassin's Creed publisher Ubisoft is currently hard at work on an open-world title in the galaxy far, far away. Meanwhile, Detroit: Become Human developer Quantic Dream recently revealed a High Republic-set experience titled Star Wars: Eclipse.
The pre-Skywalker Saga High Republic era has seen a significant push from Lucasfilm over recent years with an interconnected publishing effort across comics and novels, as well as The Acolyte Disney+ series and a rumored movie that are on the way.
Quantic Dream revealed its action-adventure Eclipse title during the 2021 Game Awards ceremony with a cinematic trailer featuring Coruscant, Yoda, galactic space battles, and two lightsaber-wielding Jedi.
Despite having already revealed its first trailer, Eclipse was always reportedly still years away from release, but a recent report has indicated it may be even further away than once thought.
Star Wars Eclipse Receives Disappointing Release Update
According to an exclusive report from Xfire's Tom Henderson, Quantic Dream's High Republic-set Star Wars: Eclipse is expected to release in 2027 or 2028 due to difficulties hiring staff for the next-gen project.
Back in December 2021, Quantic Dream had over 60 job openings available at the French studio which remains the case today with 67 vacancies currently listed on its site.
The news comes after years of accusations of sexual harassment and toxic workplace culture pointed towards the French studio.
Following the reported release delay, "#BlackoutStarWarsEclipse" began trending on Twitter in response to the controversy surrounding the studio.
What Does the Future Hold for Star Wars Games?
Given that Eclipse doesn't appear set to release for at least another five years, it's unclear why Quantic Dream opted to drop the first cinematic trailer so early. Perhaps the decision was made less to drum up fan excitement, but more to intrigue developers into joining the team with the promise of working on a Star Wars game.
Regardless of this unfortunate development for Eclipse, the future remains bright for Star Wars gamers.
TT Games is currently preparing to release its LEGO adaptation of the Skywalker Saga next month, while the next AAA venture in the galaxy far, far away looks to be EA's Jedi: Fallen Order sequel releasing this year or next. Although before that, Zynga is expected to drop its arena battler Hunters for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices.
EA has even more Star Wars plans slated for years to come, including a strategy game and an all-new first-person shooter, seemingly separate from the publisher's controversial reboot of the Battlefront franchise.
With so many Star Wars games on the horizon for the years to come, the five-year wait for Eclipse should be at least somewhat tolerable for fans. As a whole, the many announced titles point towards a great diversity in genres, styles, and eras, which ought to satisfy fans of all corners of the galaxy.
Star Wars: Eclipse is expected to release in either 2027 or 2028 for next-gen consoles and PC.
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