Highlights
- Star Wars Eclipse is set in the High Republic era, centuries before popular Star Wars content, allowing for a unique narrative detached from saturated events.
- The game will feature Yoda, who may play a significant role in the story, although the specifics are yet to be revealed.
- Quantic Dream has the opportunity to explore different time periods within the High Republic, showcasing Yoda's journey as a Jedi Master or his interactions with other iconic characters. The studio faces the challenge of creating lore that aligns with Yoda's established legacy.
Set in the underutilized High Republic era, Star Wars Eclipse will take its players to a version of a galaxy far, far away centuries before the events of the most popular Star Wars content. While that precludes most known characters from the franchise from making a cameo, Star Wars Eclipse will feature at least one well-known character, highlighted via a scene in its teaser trailer that showed off a pensive Yoda in his more formative years.
Now that EA's exclusivity deal with Star Wars has drawn its conclusion, fans should expect a wider offering of Star Wars titles in the upcoming years. One of the first announced games untethered from the decade-long contract was Quantic Dream's Star Wars Eclipse, which will have players drawn into a narrative detached from the events of the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War. Star Wars' prosperous golden era, the High Republic was a time when the Jedi flourished and the Sith were relegated to the dark hidden corners of the galaxy. Its timeline was far from utopic, however, and Quantic Dream should have no trouble manufacturing a story rife with drama for Star Wars Eclipse.
No Matter the Size of the Role, Writing Yoda is a Massive Responsibility
Star Wars' High Republic takes place between 50 and 350 years before the Clone Wars. Its timeline is chronicled in a series of books and other various scattered pieces of Star Wars media, but to other eras of Star Wars, it is a comparatively blank slate that Quantic Dream will be able to flex its narrative chops within.
There are iconic characters alive during the High Republic, including Jabba the Hutt and Chewbacca, but none more prevalent than Yoda, who lived to the ripe old age of 900, and was already a celebrated and adept Jedi during the height of the High Republic, albeit slightly less revered. The significance of the role Yoda will play in Star Wars Eclipse is unknown, but whatever it may be, Quantic Dream will have to tread carefully as it builds out the lore of what might be Star Wars' most celebrated figure.
There are a number of ways that Yoda could be worked into the plot of Star Wars Eclipse. The game's reveal left much to the imagination, without so much as a central protagonist that fans could begin to pin a theoretical plot onto. What has been announced is that the game will take place in the Outer Rim during the High Republic, presumably in a sector of planets outside the lawful grip of the Republic. Quantic Dream's CEO David Cage has also been explicit that Star Wars Eclipse will be a massive departure from the studio's previous efforts, so those expecting Detroit: Become Human set in Star Wars may be in for a shock.
Quantic Dream Has Plenty of Options for Yoda's Role
Since the High Republic encompasses three centuries, the story of Star Wars Eclipse in relation to Yoda is hard to pin down. At the era's onset, players could witness Yoda at the dawn of his status as a Jedi Master, navigating the politics of the Jedi Council with a relatively youthful naivety. Star Wars Eclipse could also unfold during the end stages of the High Republic, as Yoda trains his young Padawan Count Dooku, long before his descent to the dark side. Whichever route Quantic Dream goes, it will be carving into stone the canonical origins of a legendary figure, which is no small task.
Star Wars Eclipse heralds a new age for Star Wars games, with its unveiling and eventual release holding high stakes for fan reception in a post-EA exclusivity landscape. Yoda might be one of the game's sole connective tissues to the rest of the franchise, and doing right by the iconic figure should be high on Quantic Dream's priority list. Fans will hopefully not have to wait much longer for more information on Star Wars Eclipse, though with a tentative release window extending into 2026, it could be a while.
Star Wars Eclipse is in development.