Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are two of the most successful pair of Star Wars games ever. But, its threequel, which is set to come out anytime between now and never, has the potential to achieve even more.
Shortly after the commercial success and critical success of Jedi: Survivor in late April, Respawn Entertainment is preparing a team for the expected third installment. Although not officially confirmed, several job listings posted by Respawn point toward an interesting tidbit regarding the upcoming third entry.
After using Unreal Engine 4 for the last two entries, Respawn appears to be switching to the cutting-edge Unreal Engine 5 for Star Wars Jedi 3. This particular detail comes from the job ad for the vacant Senior VFX Artist role, where Respawn writes that it would be a “big plus” for the hired individual to have proficiency with the said gaming engine.
The power of Unreal Engine 5, when harnessed correctly, is no secret. After Fortnite debuted with then-next-gen graphics two years ago, many games that have come out since have wowed audiences. Although not every Unreal Engine 5 title has lived up to the expectations, it does guarantee that the game will, at the very least, look good.
Unfortunately, that’s pretty much all we can tell about Star Wars Jedi 3 based on the listings.
The job postings aren’t specific to the Star Wars Jedi series but broadly pertain to the Star Wars team. Respawn’s portfolio is larger than the Jedi series, with other Star Wars titles also in the works, including an unnamed first-person shooter and the still-unnamed strategy game developed in collaboration with Bit Reactor. This doesn’t exclude the possibility of new hires contributing to the Star Wars Jedi series. Given the current trajectory and director Stig Asmussen’s past statements about his aspiration for a trilogy, the likelihood of Star Wars Jedi 3 in development is high.
The latest release, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, was a significant improvement over its predecessor, save maybe for the plethora of issues at launch and multiple bugs that needed addressing post-release. It continued the story of one of the last surviving Jedi Knights, Cal Kestis, five years after the events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Despite the success of Survivor and the anticipation building around a third entry, fans may need to buckle up for a substantial wait before they get their hands on the new game. The job listings suggest the project is still in its early stages, hinting at a long road ahead before any significant reveal or release. Furthermore, Respawn’s two unnamed Star Wars titles are expected to be announced and launched ahead of Star Wars Jedi 3. Finally, video game development costs continue to scale up in recent years, so EA and Respawn might not necessarily afford to speed up the development of Star Wars Jedi 3, as much as they would like.
Disney’s ambitious plans for releasing at least two Star Wars games every year is no secret, but so far, most haven’t been as big as the Star Wars Jedi games.
It’s unclear when we’ll get our hands on the next Star Wars game but Ubisoft’s Star Wars: Outlaws promises to be quite the romp throughout the galaxy far, far away when it comes out next year.
