Star Wars: Galaxy in Turmoil in turmoil

Star Wars: Galaxy in Turmoil, the fan-made remake of the never-released Battlefront 3, is dead. I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced etc etc.

The developers at Frontwire Studios said LucasFilm issued a cease and desist back in June.

According to the update, LucasFilm said EA, which has signed an exclusivity deal with LucasFilm to make games based on Star Wars, insisted Galaxy in Turmoil would detract from its own Battlefront franchise. EA's Star Wars: Battlefront came out in 2015, and there's a sequel due out autumn 2017.

After a back and forth in which Frontwire attempted to convince the powers that be to allow Galaxy in Turmoil to continue, the developers admitted defeat.

Tony Romanelli, president of Frontwire Studios, bore LucasFilm nor EA no ill will.

"I do not for a second hold any grudge against Electronic Arts and/or LucasFilm, and neither should our community," he said.

"The Star Wars brand is a highly valuable and lucrative brand. I would expect nothing less from LucasFilm than to do everything they can to protect and preserve their intellectual property.

"As for EA they have an extremely expensive and profitable production contract with LucasFilm. Likewise, EA has done what they felt they needed to do and if I were in the same position, I hope I would also do anything to protect my golden egg.

"While I do wish EA would realise that backing a free fan game would actually be an effective way to help and promote their brand, their decision is final, and we as both a business and as a community must respect that."

So, Galaxy in Turmoil as a Star Wars game is dead. But there is a plan to continue with it sans the Star Wars bits.

"Regardless of what some have said, all of our code, sounds and many other non-Star Wars assets have been created in-house, which means they are indeed owned by us," Romanelli continued.

The plan is to create a new, original game set in a unique universe. This will still have 64-player battles and ground-to-space combat, as well as a single-player campaign. But it won't have anything to do with Star Wars or Battlefront or anything else that might attract the eye of EA. A spiritual successor, perhaps.

This new Galaxy in Turmoil will launch on Steam as a free download, as had been the plan for the Star Wars game.