EA's Upcoming AAA Star Wars Game Will Blend Online Play With a Single-Player Campaign

A new job listing has shed further light on EA's upcoming AAA open-world Star Wars game, revealing a title that sounds a bit like Destiny.

According to said listing, EA is on the hunt for a Lead Online Designer to join the team at EA Vancouver to deliver a "unique online experience."

Similar to the studio's previous job listing, this new one mentions that the game won't just feature online play, but a single-player narrative. And while neither of these things are all that surprising, the wording on how EA wants to deliver both does potentially peel back some layers on the project.

According to the job listing, said Lead Online Designer will "work with the Creative Director, Game Director and Lead Writer to align all connected features with the single-player narrative and gameplay into a cohesive experience."

The key here is the mention of "align," which seems to suggest that the developer is looking to blend both the single-player narrative into online play for a "cohesive experience." If that pitch sounds familiar, it's probably because it sounds quite a bit like Destiny.

As you may know, this new project comes off the back of EA cancelling Visceral Games' single-player open-world Star Wars game – and shuttering the studio in the process – back in 2017. At the time of the announcement – which spawned a pretty massive backlash – EA stated it wanted to shift the game to be a broader experience that could offer more player agency and options.

That said, it appears EA Vancouver's game is a re-imagination of what Visceral was working on, and likely contains a bit of that single-player narrative it was crafting. Or maybe it doesn't, who knows.

Whatever EA Vancouver's mystery Star Wars project is, it sounds like it's pretty early in development, aka we probably won't be hearing about it for quite a bit.

Below, you can peruse the job listing for yourself:

We are looking for a talented and experienced Lead Online Designer to join an established group of developers working on a AAA Star Wars title in development at EA Vancouver. This is an opportunity to join a veteran team and help craft the vision and execution of a compelling, innovative and immersive Star Wars experience.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Creative Director, Game Director and Online Producer to define and execute on the vision for a unique online experience

• Lead the design, execution and tuning of all online game modes, social experiences and live service features.

• Work with the Creative Director, Game Director and Lead Writer to align all connected features with the single-player narrative and gameplay into a cohesive experience

• Drive the balancing and tuning of all connected features based on focus testing, metrics, telemetry and other feedback

• Spearhead the evolution, execution and tuning of the game's features and economy in a live service environment together with the Live Team

• Champion the vision for the connected experience and live services

• Track, analyse and communicate on forward-looking trends and player-desired features in online gaming and live services

• Actively communicate progress, risks and challenges to key stakeholders across the team

  Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience working on AAA multiplayer titles or modes

• 2+ shipped titles in a role developing multiplayer, online, or community features

• Proven ability to set direction and successfully lead a team to deliver AAA quality experiences

• Strong knowledge and experience with game development in a live service environment

• Solid understanding of scripting/programming concepts and online infrastructure

• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills

• Strong sense of humour and a positive, collaborative, team-centric mentality

• Comfortable working within a large, cross-disciplinary team

• Willingness to iterate and adapt designs

• In-depth knowledge of industry trends in multiplayer/connected experiences

• Passion for games and gaming