It's hard to find a franchise more ubiquitous than the LEGO franchise. For a long time, not a year went by without Traveller's Tales releasing a new LEGO game, whether it was for a licensed property like Lord of the Rings or an original IP like Ninjago. The LEGO video game franchise is a cherished and charming set of family-friendly games that retell classic stories in delightful ways. Unfortunately, in 2020, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga broke the pattern last year. This momentous game, which promises to be truly revolutionary for the LEGO franchise's gameplay, had to be delayed into 2021, and now it's been delayed again.
LEGO fans are surely disappointed that LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga probably isn't coming out this spring as planned. The community has been waiting for the game for a long time. It's hard to be patient for what's supposed to be a truly unique and expansive entry in a storied franchise. However, it's hardly a surprise that The Skywalker Saga needs some more time in development. The sheer scale of the game is unprecedented for LEGO games, so Traveller's Tales probably has a lot that it's desperate to get right. What's more, it's trying to make such an important game in an extremely difficult time for the game industry.
Old Series, New Tricks
The sheer amount of content that Traveller's Tales is packing into The Skywalker Saga is incomparable to any other LEGO game. It's totally overhauling LEGO combat with new attack types for melee characters and third-person shooting for ranged characters. It's got more levels than previous LEGO games have ever dreamt of, since it's packing all nine Star Wars movies into one game. It has a playable roster of a staggering 300 characters, and what's more, it has a truly huge galactic overworld that lets players visit tons of their favorite Star Wars planets and roam freely.
That's a lot for Traveller's Tales to try to get right. It needs to get every playable character right, figure out engaging level design for both the sprawling overworld and the many playable missions, get the game's new mechanics right, and more. The Skywalker Saga is also coming to a lot of different platforms. Not only does Traveller's Tales have to get a major amount of core mechanics right, but it has to make sure the game lives up to expectations on each and every platform that The Skywalker Saga is coming to.
Traveller's Tales is totally justified in deciding it needs extra time to get The Skywalker Saga right. It might be an old and accomplished studio, but The Skywalker Saga is intended to be a very different LEGO game from what it's made before. If Traveller's Tales wants to set a new standard for what LEGO games look like and how they play, then it's doing the right thing to make sure the game is up to snuff. It has a lot of fans to impress with its bold changes and the sheer amount of content.
Toughing Out Development
The ambitious nature of The Skywalker Saga isn't just complicated in a vacuum. Traveller's Tales is one of the many studios unfortunate enough to be making a big game in the middle of the COVID-19 epidemic. No developer has been spared from the pandemic's obstacles; everyone has had to adapt their work models in order to keep everyone safe while still keeping afloat. Although companies of all kinds have found ways to adjust, things are still slower than they might be otherwise. Traveller's Tales can't be blamed for needing more time to work on The Skywalker Saga, both as an ambitious game and as a game made in the midst of the pandemic.
Even though The Skywalker Saga has been delayed, fans shouldn't give up date of hearing a release date sometime soon. Traveller's Tales makes it sound like it wants to deliver a new release date very soon, so maybe fans will get a release date for summer or fall in the next few months. That'd be a good compromise for having to wait longer to play the game. The developers still acknowledge that this will be a truly momentous LEGO game, and not just a big shift for LEGO Star Wars. The delay is unfortunate, but it'll probably be good for the game in the long run.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
