You’d think making a hit Star Wars video game would be easy. You have lightsabers. You have X-wings. You have John Williams’ score, which basically does 40% of the emotional heavy lifting for you the second those brass horns kick in. But honestly? The history of this franchise in digital form is a chaotic, beautiful, and sometimes devastating mess of cancelled projects and corporate handshakes.
It’s been decades since Star Wars: Tie Fighter blew everyone’s minds on MS-DOS. Since then, we’ve seen the heights of Knights of the Old Republic and the absolute PR nightmare that was the Battlefront II loot box launch. People often ask why we can't just get a "perfect" Star Wars game every year. The answer is usually buried in the complex relationship between Lucasfilm Games (formerly LucasArts), Electronic Arts, and now a wider web of developers like Ubisoft and Respawn Entertainment.
The EA Monopoly and the Great Pivot
For a solid decade, if you wanted a Star Wars video game, it had to come from Electronic Arts. This was the "Exclusivity Era." It started with a lot of promise but quickly ran into the reality of modern AAA development costs and shifting player tastes. Remember Project Ragtag? That was the codename for the linear, narrative-driven game being led by Amy Hennig, the creative force behind Uncharted. It sounded like a dream. Visceral Games was handling it. Then, EA shut the whole thing down.
They thought people didn't want single-player games anymore. They were wrong.
The industry shifted toward "games as a service." EA wanted recurring revenue, which led to the 2017 Battlefront II disaster. It wasn't just a bad game; it was a global controversy that literally triggered government investigations into gambling and "surprise mechanics." If you were there for that launch, you remember the Reddit post from EA that became the most downvoted comment in the history of the platform. "A sense of pride and accomplishment" became a meme that haunted the brand for years.
How Respawn Saved the Brand
Then came Jedi: Fallen Order.
Respawn Entertainment, the folks behind Titanfall and Apex Legends, basically walked in and proved that a single-player, Soulslike Star Wars video game could actually sell millions of copies without a single microtransaction. Cal Kestis wasn't a powerhouse like Starkiller from The Force Unleashed. He was vulnerable. He struggled. Stig Asmussen and his team understood that the "Jedi fantasy" works best when there's actual friction.
🔗 Read more: Among Us Spider-Man: Why Everyone Is Still Obsessed With These Mods
The sequel, Jedi: Survivor, pushed that even further, though it faced some serious technical hurdles at launch—reminding us that even the best games are often held together by digital duct tape and prayer. It expanded the "Metroidvania" exploration and gave us a version of the Star Wars universe that felt lived-in and grimy, rather than the shiny, polished look of the prequel era.
The Open World Dream and the Ubisoft Factor
Now we're in a post-exclusivity world. Massive Entertainment, the Ubisoft studio responsible for The Division, recently gave us Star Wars Outlaws. It’s a huge deal because it’s the first true open-world Star Wars video game that lets you hop on a speeder and just... go.
Kay Vess isn't a Jedi. That’s the most important part.
For a long time, developers were terrified of making a game without a lightsaber. They thought the brand couldn't sustain it. But Outlaws leans into the "scum and villainy" aspect of the Outer Rim. You’re dealing with the Pyke Syndicate, the Hutts, and Crimson Dawn. It’s a different vibe. It’s about reputation management and stealth. Honestly, sometimes it’s clunky, but it captures that "Han Solo" feeling better than almost anything since the 90s.
Why Lore Consistency is a Nightmare
Every single Star Wars video game made today has to go through the Lucasfilm Story Group. Imagine trying to write a cool side quest but being told you can't use a specific type of droid because that droid was technically discontinued three years prior in a comic book only 5,000 people read. That’s the level of scrutiny these devs face.
It ensures a "unified canon," but it can also stifle creativity.
💡 You might also like: Why the Among the Sleep Mom is Still Gaming's Most Uncomfortable Horror Twist
Look at Star Wars: Squadrons. It was a smaller, niche title focused entirely on cockpit dogfighting. It was a love letter to the old X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter days. Because it was smaller in scope, it felt more focused. It didn't try to be everything to everyone. It just wanted to be a great flight sim. Sometimes, the biggest mistake a Star Wars video game can make is trying to include every single iconic character and location just for the sake of fan service.
The Ghost of Knights of the Old Republic
We have to talk about the elephant in the room: the KOTOR Remake.
The original Knights of the Old Republic by BioWare is frequently cited as one of the greatest RPGs ever made. It introduced Revan. It gave us HK-47. It had a twist that still lands today. When Sony announced a remake in 2021, the internet lost its collective mind. Then, things went quiet. Reports of development trouble at Aspyr, the project moving to Saber Interactive, and rumors of indefinite delays have turned it into a cautionary tale.
Modernizing a classic is dangerous. If you change the combat too much, the old-school fans revolt. If you keep it turn-based/real-time-with-pause, the younger generation thinks it’s "boring." It’s a tightrope walk over a pit of Sarlaccs.
Indie Vibes and Lego Brilliance
It's not all $200 million budgets, though. Some of the best Star Wars video game experiences are the ones that don't take themselves too seriously.
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a technical marvel. It covers all nine films. It has hundreds of characters. It’s funny.
- Star Wars: Hunters tried to bring the hero shooter vibe to mobile and Switch.
- Nightdive Studios recently did a remaster of Dark Forces, showing that there's still a massive appetite for "boomer shooters" set in this universe.
The variety is finally starting to match the scale of the galaxy itself. We’re moving away from the era where every game was just a generic action-adventure title with a Star Wars skin.
📖 Related: Appropriate for All Gamers NYT: The Real Story Behind the Most Famous Crossword Clue
What’s Actually Happening Next?
The pipeline is weirdly crowded right now.
We know Quantic Dream is working on Star Wars Eclipse, set in the High Republic era. That’s a bold choice because that era is mostly explored in novels and comics right now. It's a time of peace, which is a weird setting for a game called "Star Wars." Then there’s the untitled strategy game from Bit Reactor and Respawn. A Star Wars RTS (Real-Time Strategy) is something fans have been begging for since Empire at War in 2006.
And let's not forget the VR space. Tales from the Galaxy's Edge showed that being physically inside a cantina is a totally different experience than seeing it on a flat screen.
The Reality of the "Star Wars Tax"
Developing a Star Wars video game is expensive. You aren't just paying for the developers; you're paying for the license. This is why these games often feel "safe." When a publisher spends hundreds of millions of dollars, they want a return on investment. They want something that appeals to your 8-year-old nephew and your 45-year-old boss.
This leads to "feature creep"—trying to cram in crafting, skill trees, open worlds, and cinematic QTEs into one package. The best games in the series, like Republic Commando or Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, usually succeeded because they picked one thing and did it perfectly. Commando was a squad shooter. Outcast was a lightsaber sim. They didn't try to be everything at once.
Actionable Insights for the Modern Player
If you're looking to dive into the current landscape of Star Wars gaming, don't just chase the newest releases. The "Golden Age" of the early 2000s is surprisingly accessible today through backwards compatibility and remasters.
- Check the Sales: Star Wars games go on sale every May the 4th and during every major Steam/Xbox/PS sale. You can usually grab the entire classic collection for the price of a single lunch.
- Embrace the Mods: If you're on PC, the modding community for Battlefront II (the 2017 one) and Empire at War is still incredibly active. They've added characters from The Mandalorian and Ahsoka that aren't in the base games.
- Try Different Genres: Don't just stick to third-person action. The Star Wars: Pinball collections are surprisingly deep, and Squadrons in VR is a life-changing experience for anyone who ever dreamed of sitting in an X-Wing.
- Watch the Performance: Given the state of modern PC ports, always check "Digital Foundry" or similar technical reviews before buying a Star Wars game on launch day. Jedi: Survivor proved that even a masterpiece can be marred by stuttering.
The future of the Star Wars video game is no longer tied to a single company's vision. That’s a good thing. We’re going to get some misses—that’s inevitable—but the potential for a weird, experimental, and deeply personal Star Wars story has never been higher. Whether it’s a strategy game, a gritty underworld RPG, or another Jedi epic, the galaxy is finally big enough to hold all of it.