Star Wars: Eclipse has been the source of a lot of speculation ever since its release. The story-driven Star Wars game developed by Quantic Dream – known for titles such as Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human – was rumored to have been delayed by several years, and that it wouldn't see the light of day until at least 2027 or 2028.
The rumored reason for the delay stemmed around Quantic Dream allegedly having trouble with hiring staff to work on the project. Star Wars: Eclipse's announcement trailer debuted at the 2021 Game Awards show, where the developers made it clear that the game was still in early development and would take years before it was ready to release.
In an interview with GamesRadar, a spokesperson for the company fired back at the delay rumors, stating that the game couldn't have possibly been delayed, as it never had a release date to begin with. They went on to say that the recruitment process remained active and uninhibited, citing that the company has seen a workforce growth of 50% in 2021, and that job postings, such as the allegedly unfilled senior positions, can be deceiving.
While not much is known about Star Wars: Eclipse at this point, Quantic Dream has described it as an intricately branching action-adventure game, which is a genre that the developer is intimately familiar with. Much like Detroit: Become Human, Star Wars: Eclipse can be experienced in many ways across several unique playthroughs, and it puts the destinies of multiple playable characters directly into the hands of the player.
Star Wars: Eclipse will take place in the High Republic era, a previously unexplored time period in the galaxy far far away, when the Galactic Republic was at the peak of its power. The complacency that the Republic enjoyed during this idyllic point in its history eventually snowballed into the tumultuous era seen in the Star Wars prequel films that ended with the death of democracy and the rise of the Empire.
Set roughly 200 years before The Phantom Menace, a collection of books, comics, and other media have already explored the High Republic setting in a publishing initiative to allow its authors a lot of creative freedom – and Star Wars: Eclipse is slated to be the first major game set in the time period. While not much is known about the game this early in its development, the footage shown thus far has been quite promising.
Star Wars Eclipse is currently in early development.
Source: GamesRadar