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Respawn’s Star Wars game will likely arrive in EA’s 2020 fiscal year

Steven Petite
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EA Star Wars: A Look Ahead
It appears that EA’s next Star Wars game might not launch until 2019 or maybe even 2020. During the studio’s most recent earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen claimed that Respawn’s Star Wars game looks to be on track for the studio’s 2020 fiscal year,
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IGN reports.
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Don’t get too alarmed. EA’s 2020 fiscal year begins April 2019 and runs through March 2020. Since EA hasn’t officially announced its plans for the 2020 fiscal year, though, there’s always the chance that this could change.

For now, it would seem that Respawn’s project will arrive before the next Battlefront and EA’s other Star Wars project helmed by EA Vancouver.

This is a shift in EA’s original timeline. The next Star Wars game release was supposed to be a linear, story-focused adventure game from Visceral Games led by Uncharted series writer Amy Hennig. EA shuttered Visceral in October and shifted development to EA Vancouver with help from EA Worldwide Studios. The shakeup applied to the game too, with all signs pointing to an open-world experience. As such, the currently untitled project was pushed back.

In the earnings call, EA noted that Star Wars Battlefront II underperformed. While not explicitly stated, it seems that may have contributed to Respawn’s Star Wars title replacing the next Battlefront game in the 2020 fiscal year. But even if the Battlefront series is on ice, EA appears to be committed to developing a third entry in the series’ reboot, most likely titled “Battlefront III,” somewhere down the line. It’s still possible that the next Battlefront could launch in EA’s 2019 fiscal year, but it doesn’t sound likely.

We know next to nothing about Respawn’s untitled Star Wars game, which has inadvertently found itself in position to be the next AAA Star Wars release. A short teaser from EA Play 2016 showed a motion capture session featuring lightsaber battles. So the game looks to emphasize melee combat and possibly centers on the Jedi. Respawn however did promise “slick, larger-than-life action and fun, groundbreaking mechanics.” While we have yet to see any in-game footage, Respawn has built a reputation for innovative gameplay throughout its exceptional work on the Titanfall series.

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Steven Petite
Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the culmination of the series’ rocky gaming history
Jedi Cal Kestis.

I've played Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's Coruscant heist opening multiple times at this point, and every time I play it, I can't help but think about what could've been with Star Wars 1313, the franchise's most infamous canceled game. 
The idea of an Uncharted-like game about Boba Fett fighting throughout the Coruscant underworld is such an excellent pitch that I've grieved the loss of a game I never even had a chance to play for over a decade. Playing through Survivor's opening doesn't elicit feelings of disappointment about 1313, though. Instead, I feel happy that at least some fraction of that idea was able to be realized.

Survivor's Metroidanvia-like level design and Lightsaber-and-Force-based combat are much different than what was promised from 1313. However, the idea of cleverly climbing and fighting across a seedy-looking level of Coruscant during a heist was still realized. Reflecting on the lost project ahead of this year's Star Wars Day, I had a revelation about Respawn Entertainment's latest game. Despite technically being a sequel to just Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor feels like the culmination of over a decade of Star Wars games, both released and canceled, that came before.
A walk through Star Wars gaming history
Growing up, two of my favorite video games were the original Star Wars: Battlefront II and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. To this day, 2005's Battlefront II is my favorite game of all time, not only because of all the great memories that I had with it but also because it feels like an authentic Star Wars simulator where multiple eras, planets, and characters are preserved in incredible detail. Survivor feels like it has the same keen attention to detail.
Players may not visit as many planets as they do in Battlefront II, but each location in Survivor is densely packed with content and immaculately packed with detailed environments and characters that faithfully represent the High Republic, prequel, and Imperial eras. While the aesthetics feel as detailed as Battlefront, the gameplay fantasy pulls more from The Force Unleashed.

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All Stim upgrade locations in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Cal picking up a stim upgrade with BD.

Just like Fallen Order before it, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has many Souls-like elements. Outside of the general flow of combat, and the way Meditation Points work, Stims are essentially analogous to your Estus flas -- a limited healing resource that you can only replenish by resting. You will only start with a meager two Stims, leaving you with very little room for error even on low-difficulty settings. Thankfully, Stim Upgrades allow you to increase that number by one for each you manage to find. Given how powerful these are, you'll want to gather up as many as possible to ensure your survival in the galaxy far, far away. If The Force isn't so strong with you, allow us to guide you to all the Stim Upgrade locations in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

We will outline where to find each Stim organized by the planet they're on, so minor spoilers ahead if you haven't seen every planet in the game yet.
All Stim Upgrades on Coruscant
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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor ending explained: What happens to Cal, Cere, and Bode?
Bode helps Cal up in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor finally launched on April 28, continuing the story of Jedi Knight Cal Kestis during the Reign of the Empire era. Its predecessor, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, ended with Kal, his mentor Cere, Nightsister Merrin, and Mantis pilot Greez destroying a Holocron with the locations of force-sensitive children on it. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor follows Cal five years after the events of that game as he struggles to balance his well-being with his fight against the Empire and uncovers a new threat linked to The High Republic and a mysterious planet.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a lengthy adventure as it takes over 20 hours to experience a story with quite a few twists and turns. Whether you’ve beaten the game and are looking for a recap or want to know how Cal Kestis’ adventures continue, this is a rundown of what happens in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and how it all coalesces into a somber ending.
This article contains spoilers for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
How does Star Wars Jedi: Survivor begin
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor begins with Cal Kestis seemingly captured on Coruscant. While it initially seems like he’s being turned over into the custody of a Utapauian senator, it turns out this is all part of an elaborate heist with a new crew that Cal has been running with since the Mantis crew from the first game disbanded. During this mission, Cal meets Bode Akuna, who tells Cal he’s fighting to protect his daughter Kata from the Empire.

They are eventually able to track down the Utapauian senator’s damaged ship, and all seems to be going well. Unfortunately, they are then ambushed by an Imperial Squad led by the Ninth Sister from the Fallen Order. Cal kills the Ninth Sister and escapes on the Mantis, but everyone but him and Bode is killed, and the Mantis is heavily damaged. With no other choice, he flies to the planet Koboh, where Greez is now living, and crash lands on the planet.
After fighting some of the Bedlam Raiders, led by a powerful Gen’Dai named Rayvis, Cal reunites with Greez. While Greez encourages Cal to settle down, Cal refuses and looks for a piece of technology in the caves beneath Greez’s Saloon. While doing this, he discovers an old ruin from The High Republic era, and frees a droid named ZN-A4 (or Zee) for short, who was sent on a mission by a Jedi Knight named Santari Khri during the High Republic era to find the “Key to Tanalorr.”
Cal investigates this, learning that Santari Khri and a Jedi named Dagan Gera found Tanalorr, a hidden planet beyond the dangerous Koboh Abyss, where they wanted to build a new Jedi base. Cal decides to free Dagan from his Bacta Tank, but he quickly betrays Cal after learning of the Jedi’s fall, adamant about retaking Tanalorr with the help of Rayvis, who owes him a life debt. Now, Cal, Bode, and Greez make it their duty to stop Dagan and potentially claim Tanalorr as a safe haven for themselves.
The quest to stop Dagan Gera
Following this encounter, Cal, Greez, and Bode, who found Cal on Koboh, decide to look for Tanalorr and make it their new home together. Looking for any existing information on Tanalorr, the group decides to go to Jedha, where Cal’s mentor Cere Junda is working with Jedi Master Edo Cordova to rebuild the Jedi Archives and support the Hidden Path, which protects force-sensitive people from the Empire.

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