New layoffs at video game publisher Electronic Arts have reportedly led to the cancellation of a game that could have been associated with Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Just a couple of weeks back, a high-profile new report asserted that developer Respawn Entertainment was in the process of working on a first-person shooter that would see players controlling a Mandalorian character. At the time, this news excited many Star Wars fans, but it seems as though EA has now chosen to kill the project.
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Earlier this afternoon, EA announced that it would begin the process of laying off 670 employees, which equates to roughly 5% of the company. As a result of this move, EA said that it would be “moving away from [the] development of future licensed IP” that it didn’t believe would be successful. At the time, it wasn’t known exactly what this game in question would be, but subsequent reporting from IGN has since claimed that this canned project was Respawn’s Star Wars shooter.
All the way back in January 2022, Respawn revealed that it would be embarking upon creating three Star Wars video games. One of these titles ended up becoming Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which launched last year and was relatively successful for EA. The other two were then known to be a shooter and a strategy game, the latter of which was being created in tandem with developer Bit Reactor. While the Star Wars shooter is now scrapped, it’s unknown if this strategy title is still happening.
As for the reason behind this delay, IGN reports that Electronic Arts is choosing to focus more on its own properties rather than those that it licenses from other companies. That being said, EA is still said to be keeping many projects alive that is working on with outside corporations. EA’s previously announced Iron Man and Black Panther games, notably, are continuing work. Meanwhile, Respawn has already confirmed that it’s going to be creating a third entry in the Star Wars Jedi series, which will surely become the studio’s biggest focus moving forward.
