During an interview at the G-Star games show in South Korea, Quantic Dream founder David Cage said that Star Wars Eclipse will be "the most ambitious project of our studio." Also stating that it is set to be quite different from the studio’s previous release Detroit: Become Human, which was set in a near-future earth.
Star Wars Eclipse is an upcoming new adventure set in the High Republic era of the Star Wars universe. Not to be confused with the Old Republic, which is perhaps more famous thanks to the classic Knights of the Old Republic games. The High Republic is a time set around 200 years before the prequel trilogy while the Old Republic era is set thousands of years before. While the dramatic reveal trailer featured many familiar aspects, alien races, and of course lightsabers, the setting will likely offer quite a few new opportunities to the game being that it’s a relatively untouched timeframe compared to all the movie tie-in games.
In his interview with IGN Japan, Cage wanted to make clear that Eclipse would not simply be a re-skin of Detroit, with his first distinction being that Eclipse is decidedly more sci-fi than Detroit. While the studio’s previous game did feature androids prominently enough to be all three playable characters, Cage sees the setting as more of a “prediction” rather than direct sci-fi, stating:
“I don't consider Detroit to be sci-fi. Rather, I think it was a "prediction." It was a work about the near future. We spent a long time imagining the world 10, 15, 20 years from now. What's going on with technology?”
(translated from Japanese)
Also saying that Star Wars is quite different in that respect, given that the whole premise of Star Wars is that it is “far, far away.”
When asked how the story would reflect the drastic change in setting, Cage declined to answer saying that discussing the matter would reveal too much of the plot. Given that all of Quantic Dream's work has been heavily story-based, to the point of being referred to as “interactive drama,” it’s no surprise that the writer and director wants to keep his cards close to his chest. Especially as the release date is not even revealed yet, and its expected release is around 2024 at the earliest, meaning that Star Wars Eclipse may have been announced too early.
Many may note that this will be the first time that the divisive studio has worked on a licensed franchise, and with the studio’s particular writing style some may see the game as a great opportunity for both Star Wars and Quantic Dream, while others may be somewhat dismayed by the partnership. Cage reassures in the interview that he has been a major fan of Star Wars since the age of 10 when the first movie hit theaters, and that the studio is approaching the title with the same passion as though it were their own original IP.
While the studio are taking on a new genre of narrative and gameplay with Eclipse, Quantic Dream has also stated that the game will retain the “fundamentals” of what they are known for. If Quantic Dream is able to achieve a high level of storytelling with great action-adventure gameplay, the game might join the ranks or instant classics such as Knights of the Old Republic and Jedi: Fallen Order, perhaps even making fans forget about the fabled, canceled Project Rag Tag, written by legendary director and scriptwriter, Amy Hennig.
Star Wars Eclipse is currently in early development.
Source: IGN JP
