Star Wars dev making openworld RPG

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 23 August, 2011

New Star Wars game cooking?

The maker of Star Wars The Force Unleashed is hiring for an openworld role-playing game.

A job ad for a gameplay engineer, Tweeted by LucasArts' Clint Hocking, mentions the genre of the game.

Hocking was the creative director of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Far Cry 2 at Ubisoft.

He left in May 2010 after nearly nine years at the company to work as creative director for LucasArts on an unannounced game.

The job advertisement calls for console development experience, suggesting the mystery game will at least appear on home consoles.

LucasArts' last internally-developed game was The Force Unleashed 2, which disappointed critics upon its 2010 release.

Eurogamer's The Force Unleashed 2 review force pushed a 5/10.

In June this year LucasArts admitted its recent games hadn't been good enough - but promised to do better in the future.

"LucasArts is a company with tremendous potential," boss Paul Meegan said. "I think people look at it and wonder why it hasn't done better in recent years.

"Lucasfilm has some of the most beloved and powerful brands in entertainment, we have a loyal community of fans, and talented people in every discipline. We're surrounded by staggeringly bright and creative people at the top of their games.

"In recent years, LucasArts hasn't always done a good job of making games. We should be making games that define our medium, that are competitive with the best of our industry, but we're not. That has to change.

"Our priority is to create authentic, immersive, high quality Star Wars games."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 9 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Kanjin #1 9 months ago

    Well it can't be KotoR 3, guess we'll see...

  • mr_pink #2 9 months ago

    Well Splinter Cell CT and Far Cry 2 were awesome, so now we'll find out how much of a role Clint Hocking played in making them good. I haven't completely abandoned my love for Star Wars themed gaming, but this new game is going to have to be something really special to recapture my enthusiasm. RIP KOTOR, X-Wing, Tie Fighter, Jedi Outcast, Rogue Leader.
    Edited by mr_pink at 23/08/11 @ 13:34

  • Yuroko #3 9 months ago

    "LucasArts hasn't always done a good job of making games."

    Glad you said it and not me.

    Star Wars has such a rich background that making games in that world must be relatively easy, surely. Yet we have had so few decent ones. Still, Star Wars is dead to me nowadays. I'll buy the original trilogy on bluray then I'm out.

  • Donaldthescotishtwin #4 9 months ago

    I hope it's a role playing game based on one of the films we need somthing other than just a lightsaber fighting game based on the films and space battles

  • niallymul #5 9 months ago

    An open world Indy RPG.........That would be awsome!!!!

  • Nazo #6 9 months ago

    X Wing please.

  • ZizouFC #7 9 months ago

    Has to be Kotor 3... Unless they don't want my money.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #8 9 months ago

    This is the stage I've got to with Lucas and the SW franchise:

    A decent enough game set within the time period and film-canon of Ep4-6 = Must buy.

    Anything else = would actively avoid no matter how good the fucking game was.

    You fucked it Lucas - my son Luke and I are most displeased with you.

  • Baranga #9 9 months ago

    Imperial Commando.

  • Thunderbolt #10 9 months ago

    Ewoks the battle for endor in Hd please!

  • niallymul #11 9 months ago

    @Baranga

    They could have an online team deathmatch/flag capture/front pushing Imperial vs Republic. i.e Battlefront/GRAW

  • bad09 #12 9 months ago

    In the absence of a decent KOTOR sequel any time soon I'm currently replaying KOTOR1 it is still bloody awesome! I'll be over a new SW (non-crappy MMO) RPG like a looter over currys!

  • Rosswell #13 9 months ago

    An RPG set in the Monkey Island or Indiana Jones universe would be nice

  • Cobalt_Jackal #14 9 months ago

    sounds interesting, and talking of Star Wars games. Battlefront 3 is being developed and will be announced this September at the same time as the Star Wars Blu-ray comes out. Trust me on that one.

    Proof of Star Wars: Battlefront 3 2011 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDBpIRXB4aE
    Edited by Cobalt_Jackal at 23/08/11 @ 14:14

  • bad09 #15 9 months ago

    @Cobalt_Jackal

    Don't mess with me I'd suck off a hut for BF3! Hope that's true!

  • Stuz359 #16 9 months ago

    KOTOR 3 would be awesome, but even something like Knights of the New Republic would be pretty cool

  • HL706 #17 9 months ago

    @mr_pink

    "...and Far Cry 2 were awesome"

    I'd agree with you if the AI didn't have super-duper night vision coupled with x-ray specs and checkpoints at every single junction in the game. Far Cry 2 was an exercise in annoyance.

  • gm914 #18 9 months ago

    @Cobalt_Jackal

    That is very interesting about Spark Unlimited. Their 'unannounced project' details certainly fit the Battlefront 3 description.
    Thanks for sharing

  • Seoh #19 9 months ago

    I would love an open world RPG where you play as a smuggler, none of this Jedi malarky

  • MMMMMM7 #20 9 months ago

    The Force Unleashed is for me an outstanding game. The best Star Wars game
    I have played since 'Dark Forces' and my most favorit of all the Star Wars
    games.
    State of the art graphics that captured the Star Wars dark atmosphere, very
    nice characters and main hero, strong story telling with high quality cinematics
    and finally very good combat with challenging light sabre duels.

    I wish the new game they are going to create would be a Star Wars game
    having as a model to be based on the fantastic game ''The Witcher 2''.
    I personally find many similarites between Gerald of Rivia and a Jedi.
    I wish them good luck and hope Lucas Arts returns with a great game that
    sets new standards like The Force Unleashed did 3 years ago and
    The Witcher 2 has done now in 2011.


    Edited by MMMMMM7 at 23/08/11 @ 19:54

  • mr_pink #21 9 months ago

    @HL706 That was part of why it was awesome. It's actually not that hard to spot someone moving a few hundred feet away. Night did actually make a difference to stealth, that and the camo suit. The checkpoints were there to keep the pressure on, you could always avoid them, sneak past or drive through like a maniac. Good times.

  • Cobalt_Jackal #22 9 months ago

    @bad09

    Yup its true. Here is another vid which ties in with this article. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAWa2aJZh...

    This game is/will be Battlefront 3. Mark my words. Also Spark Unlimited are developing the game.

    Here are Spark's job listings

    [link url=http://www.sparkunlimited.com/jobs_currentjobs.html
    ]http://www.sparkunlimited.com/jobs_curre...[/link]

    And here is Spark's Q&A (hint read the first question)

    [link url=http://www.sparkunlimited.com/index_QAA.html
    ]http://www.sparkunlimited.com/index_QAA....[/link]

    IMHO that is proof that Battlefront 3 is being made and will be announced this September, too tie in with the Blu-ray realease of Star Wars. Again Trust me on that one. It'll happen.
    Edited by Cobalt_Jackal at 23/08/11 @ 15:59

  • Architect_z #23 9 months ago

    Did you find any droids!?

  • Bakumatsu #24 9 months ago

    Man if only it was a Jedi Knight sequel...

  • vertibird-VB02 #25 9 months ago

    Please be KOTOR3.... please, please, please!!....

  • Inmediasress #26 9 months ago

    I would be shocked if it was Kotor 3 tough one can dream, if it's somethibg else I don't care, well maybe if it is set after the six SW episodes I could get interested in it but only if it's a really good rpg experience not just some shovelware with the SW logo on it.
    I know I'm going to be hated for this, but those that want a game set somewhere between the 6 episodes are punishing themselves.
    I think that it's been milked soo much with games and comics and idiotic cartoons that I don't see why I should play another game with that setting.

  • henneth #27 9 months ago

    "In recent years, LucasArts hasn't always done a good job of making games. We should be making games that define our medium, that are competitive with the best of our industry, but we're not. That has to change.

    "Our priority is to create authentic, immersive, high quality Star Wars games."

    Strange - as aside from the X-Wing series, most of LucasArts' greatest games had bugger all to do with the Star Wars license...

  • CaptainKid #28 9 months ago

    @Yuroko
    Sadly the original trilogy has been fucked up to a long time ago.
    Han Solo not shooting first, muppet music scene at Jabba's, etc.

  • Gammerz #29 9 months ago

    People are crying out for Battlefront and XWing/Tie Fighter on consoles. Why aren't the devs listening? There'd be lots of MONEY in it!

  • CamberGreber #30 9 months ago

    "Our priority is to create authentic, immersive, high quality Star Wars games."

    Then why was BattleFront 3 Cancelled.

    ..and why did SWFU2 on PC have horrid quality cutscenes with the lowest quality bitrate I have ever seen.

    LucasArts has always been a second rate Developer. They need to just focus on outsourceing deveopment.

  • ruddiger7 #31 9 months ago

    star cry chewbaccas revenge

  • Lord_BeeJee #32 9 months ago

    He shouldn't be bragging about making that shite series

  • sabbede #33 9 months ago

    Lucasarts used to make the best games. And I do mean The Best, as in: The Best combat flight sims (in space or over Europe) and The Best adventure games... They defined genres!
    Then they stopped and decided to just turn out shit instead.
    Never could figure that one out.
    Edited by sabbede at 24/08/11 @ 18:28

  • sabbede #34 9 months ago

    @Gammerz The X-wing/Tie-fighter games were proper flight sims. Something that cannot be done on a console. You're a few dozen keys short.
    Sorry.

  • Stuz359 #35 9 months ago

    @sabbede

    Could be done on Wii-U with the touchscreen though.