EA Teases New PS5 and Xbox Series X Star Wars Game

EA Motive has confirmed it's working on a "very unique" Star Wars game alongside a brand new IP. The news comes way of general manager at the Montreal-based studio, Patrick Klaus, previously of Ubisoft Quebec. According to Klaus, the studio -- thought to be well over 100 employees -- is working on two projects at the moment, neither of which have been announced. The one is a brand new IP from basically a brand new team within the studio. The other is the aforementioned "very unique" Star Wars game, which sounds like it has the bulk of EA Motive behind it. Unfortunately, Klaus doesn't divulge any further details, but this is presumably the new Star Wars game EA was talking about during its recent earnings call, the one that's scheduled to release sometime between April 2022 and March 2023. That said, even if these aren't the same projects, what's clear is this will be a PS5 and Xbox Series X game.

"[The identity] is being built right now," added Klaus while speaking about the studio, which sounds like it's finally coming into its own after being founded in 2015. "And we're doing a lot of work internally in order to identify our DNA, who we are, and what we do. We're in the process of communicating that internally and making sure the teams buy into it, that they're fully committed to where we're going and they understand why. And then I think the identity externally gets proven when we release games, and when we release successful games."

Now, you would expect Star Wars to be the bigger of the two projects here, but the way Klaus talks about this new IP suggests not only is it a games-as-a-service title, but that it could very well be a powerhouse in the industry.

"When I joined, I certainly didn't want to just do a hard reset because there are plenty of things that are great," said Klaus speaking about working with what the studio had been working on before he came in. "So we added some elements, tightened up the mission, tightened up our production plan. We refocused the new IP we're developing in order to make sure the studio becomes a powerhouse for years."

Klaus continued, talking about how different of a company EA is now than it was during his first stint with the mega games maker:

"It feels like a different company, a company that's very much focused on quality," said Klaus "That's part of the reason that got me excited about coming back, really the number one priority is that we want to make great games, and EA execs are really empowering Montreal with the amount of talent we have in the studio to play a big part in making some awesome games for EA."

For those that don't know: EA Motive was founded in July 2015 by EA and Jade Raymond, a former Ubisoft executive who made a name in the industry as a producer on the Assassin's Creed series when it was first bursting onto the scene. Since it was founded, it help aid in the development of Star Wars Battlefront II, and was a co-developer on Visceral's cancelled Star Wars game. In 2017, it merged with BioWare Montreal, the team responsible for Mass Effect: Andromeda. One year later, it opened a second branch in Vancouver. Now it appears to be working on two new games as the lead developer.

Source: GamesIndustry