‘Jedi Fallen Order’ will take gamers to the Star Wars universe in late 2019

By Jayce Wagner Published April 25, 2023

We got a big surprise from Respawn Entertainment’s CEO Vince Zampella during Electronic Arts’ E3 2018 presentation at EA Play: There’s a new Star Wars game coming and it will take us to a dark time in the Star Wars universe. Its title gives us a hint about its content: In Jedi Fallen Order, players take on the role of a Jedi during the purge, when the budding Empire is hunting the Jedi to extinction.

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Details are a little fuzzy beyond that. Zampella confirms that the game takes place between Star Wars: Episode III and Episode IV and we’ll likely see it hit store shelves around the 2019 holiday season. That’s it. No gameplay, concept art, or even a logo.

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Still, these details are the first we’ve really seen from this game, which EA and Respawn Entertainment teased in early 2016.

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“I have been playing Star Wars games my whole life, now I get to make a Star Wars game,” wrote game director Stig Asmussen on the Respawn Entertainment blog in early 2016. “On top of that, I get to do it at Respawn, a studio comprised of the most talented collection of game makers, creators, visionaries, and (most importantly) advocates for the player, that I have had the good fortune to work with. And we, like you all, have no shortage of Star Wars passion.”

It’s impressive that Respawn has managed to keep such a tight lid on details about the game, given the fervor that Star Wars properties are typically met with. That’s not to mention the number of pre-E3 leaks we’ve already seen this year. A part of that could be due to the way Respawn has structured its Star Wars team, starting small and growing outward.

“Now, I understand on the surface this might sound a bit dry, but developing a game within the ever-expanding Star Wars universe opens up so many paths for us to go down, and an unparalleled playground to design within,” Asmussen continued. “We have already planted the seeds by assembling a small, but incredibly talented team, ready for the amazing journey that lies ahead. With this in mind, we are looking to expand the dream.”

This blog entry reads a bit differently now that we actually have some small details about the upcoming game. We’re still in the dark here, but the prospect of a story-driven action game in the Star Wars universe is an exciting one.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.

Gaming

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor brings balance back to an unstable universe

Jedi Cal Kestis.

It’s funny to think about how much has changed about Star Wars since EA released Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in 2019. The action-adventure game would launch just weeks before The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a polarizing conclusion to its sequel trilogy that would create a disturbance in the force. In the years since, Disney has entirely changed its approach to the series by expanding the cinematic universe with a mixed bag of content, from the critically acclaimed Andor to more middling projects like The Book of Boba Fett. More than ever, the series is in desperate need of stability. It’s somewhat fitting, then, that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor could be the project that gets Star Wars back on track.

During a demo event ahead of the sequel’s April 28 release, I got to play a sizable chunk of the game – spanning over three hours of playtime. What stood out most during that session wasn’t its visual glow-up or fleshed-out combat. Rather, it was how tightly packaged it all is, both as a AAA video game and as a piece of Star Wars media. It’s an almost classic Jedi adventure, filled with dramatic lightsaber battles and some lighthearted comedy in-between the galactic melodrama. It’s hard to imagine anyone being upset over it (though the fan base always finds a way, doesn’t it?).

Gaming

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will now release in April following delay

EA and Respawn Entertainment need a bit more time to create Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, so the game has been delayed until April 28.
Originally set to release on March 17 at The Game Awards 2022, this delay pushes the highly anticipated Star Wars game back by more than a month. In a tweet explaining the delay, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor director Stig Asmussen explains that the game is "content complete," but needs more time to "enhance performance, stability, polish, and most importantly, the player experience." Ultimately, he believes this six-week delay will allow the development team "to hit the Respawn quality bar, provide the team the time they need, and achieve the level of polish our fans deserve." You can read the full message in the tweet below:
https://twitter.com/eastarwars/status/1620527593580806145
Thankfully, a six-week delay isn't that lengthy in the video game industry, so Star Wars fans will only have to wait a little while longer to experience Cal Kestis' next adventure. Today hasn't been the best for Respawn Entertainment fans, though, as the developer also announced it would shut down the mobile version of Apex Legends.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the sequel to 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a single-player action-adventure game that followed the journey of former Padawan Cal Kestis between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. This sequel takes place five years after that game, with Cal Kestis actor Cameron Monaghan telling Digital Trends that the narrative has an "emotionally complicated center where we’re exploring some challenging questions." Hopefully, that all makes this game worth the wait.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor now releases for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on April 28.

Gaming

First Star Wars Jedi: Survivor trailer features dual-lightsaber combat, open-world teases

Cal Kestis with BD-1 droid on his shoulder.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is launching on March 17, 2023, for Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and PC. The action-adventure game received an impressive trailer during The Game Awards that showed off several new features and teased some potential open-world aspects.
Survivor takes place five years after 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, continuing the adventures of Cal Kestis and his droid pal BD-1. Cal is no longer a young Padawan and is now a full-blown Jedi. The much larger scope of the game seems to reflect that change.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - Official Reveal Trailer
Combat is notably evolved in the trailer, as Cal can now freely use a dual-lightsaber stance in battle. Later, we see him enter “cross guard” stance as he takes down droids with heavy, two-handed slashes. EA tells Digital Trends that the goal of the sequel is to give players more agency when it comes to their playstyle.
Traversal plays a large role in the clip too. In addition to swinging around via grappling points, Cal is seen mounted on animals. He’s shown riding the back of a four-legged creature and using a winged one like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s glider. The clip seems to imply that the game’s planets might be more open-ended than Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s, as one shot shows Cal peering out over a gigantic vista. EA notes that the sequel is still largely a Metroidvania-inspired title where Cal gets new abilities over time.
Cal has a new human companion this time named Bode Akuna. In one clip, we see Bode flipping over Cal’s back to attack an enemy with a combo move.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was built with current-generation consoles in mind, with ray tracing being a major focus. It appears to be a graphically impressive showcase that features more dynamic lighting and flashy lightsaber effects. The adventure won’t launch on PS4 or Xbox One, but it’ll be available for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on March 17, 2023.