The Star Wars franchise has been in full swing since it made its way back to the big screen in 2015 with The Force Awakens. There have been several new films, television shows, comics, novels, and video games released that help expand the massive universe and empty fans’ wallets. Not every new piece of media has stuck the landing, but it’s hard to complain when so much of it still reaches the standard one would expect from the venerated saga.
Modern Star Wars video games have been rocky, with the publisher in charge of the license, EA, making some questionable choices about monetization. This list won’t look at games that saw the light of day, however, and will instead focus on those that were put out to pasture before the public ever got their hands on them. There will be twenty five shown in total, with each project reaching varying degrees of completion before their plug was pulled. Maybe they were canceled for good reason, or they would have been some of the greatest games of all time, but, with the exception of a few titles, the world will never truly know. At least there are still plenty of classic ones that did manage to hit shelves.
So whip out those lightsabers, because here are 25 Cancelled Star Wars Games You Will Never Get To Play.
Star Wars Trilogy (XBOX)
The Rogue Squadron series of games was birthed on the Nintendo 64, and continued its existence on the company’s next console, the Gamecube. There was a time, however, when the team started work on bringing this beloved franchise to Microsoft’s debut appearance into the console space. The compilation was to include the three games with various improvements. About half the project was done before circumstances out of the developer’s control led to the project being canned, keeping the series forever on Nintendo’s ancient platforms.
Dark Squadron: Rogue Squadron 4
Playing as the heroes is all well and good, but sometimes people want to be bad. Dark Squadron would have given players the opportunity to do just this, had it ever seen the light of day. This Factor 5 project was to be the fourth entry in the Rogue Squadron series, tasking players with fighting for the deliciously evil Empire. The game was cancelled, but there are two bonus missions in Rogue Squadron 2 that give a taste to what Dark Squadron might have been.
Rogue Squadron: X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter
The Rogue Squadron series was always based around an exhilarating single player campaign first and foremost. The third entry allowed players to tackle the second game with a buddy, but this was not the central focus. Rogue Squadron: X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter would have shaken things up, however, basing itself around team based dog fights with other players. Factor 5, the developer, was interested in doing the project with Sony, but plans fell through and the studio ended up making Lair instead.
Ewok Adventure
This Atari 2600 project, which saw players controlling the polarizing Ewoks on the forest moon of Endor, was completed before being put on the shelf to forever collect dust. The supposed reason for the finished game to never reach shelves? Apparently, the controls were considered too difficult for young kids. Really though, if there was ever a group of people who could master difficult games, it would be children who have nothing to do all day but play video games.
Battle Of The Sith Lords
The Phantom Menace is considered the bottom of the Star Wars barrel, but even its most ardent detractors will admit that Darth Maul is a masterfully designed character. A game where one takes the reins of the mysterious villain would have been incredible. According to Game Informer Red Fly Studio’s Battle of the Sith Lords had no story and no direction before it was put to rest, only the idea of controlling Maul. Allegedly, the project was a victim of Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm.
Republic Commandos 2
This game was to be a sequel to the warmly received Republic Commandos, a first person shooter set during the Clone Wars. Had the project made it to the finish line, it would have followed Sev, a clone trooper from the first title, resisting Order 66 and starting the rebellion. As cool an idea as this sounds, it wasn’t intriguing enough to survive the cutthroat world of video game development. As a result of internal problems in LucasArts, the game was shutdown early in development.
Rebel Jedi
What’s known about this game amounts to nothing more than mere breadcrumbs. All that sleuths have to go in is a list of titles all bearing the word “Rebel”, showing up in 2008. Did teams dive deep into working on these before they were forgotten about? Would they have all been a part of the same series and have one story line? No one knows for sure, and whoever does have the answers is not spilling the beans anytime soon.
The New Emperor
Work on this game happened around 1998, and would have seen C-3PO work as a spy in the Galactic Empire after news spread around that a new Emperor was to be named. Other than that, nothing is known about the project. Seeing 3PO do his hiding in plain sight reconnaissance work would have been well worth the price of admission, but no one can say with certainty what the mechanics would have been or how the story would have played out.
Proteus
Star Wars Galaxies was a beloved MMO that took one wrong turn that nearly destroyed its entire fanbase. This project, code named Proteus, was to be a companion to the once wildly popular online game. Instead of being on PC, Proteus was meant for consoles, creating something accessible for a controller while still maintaining the genre’s depth. When Galaxies was still online, it was rare to see console MMOs, so it is little wonder why the project never took shape.
Outpost
On the surface, Star Wars: Outpost looks like a Farmville clone. However, closer inspection into the doomed project implies that there were deeper mechanics than those found in the Facebook game. Maintaining an outpost in the galaxy far, far away would have required tact, though there also would have been micro transactions. The game was almost completed and announced before it was unceremoniously shut down with a phone call, leaving only some screenshots as evidence of its existence and potential.
Battlefront III
No, this is not referring to a sequel to the 2017 title, but a follow up to the beloved 2005 game. Free Radical, known for their work on the cult classic TimeSplitters franchise, was producing the third entry in the series before it was put out to pasture. The project was ambitious, but the publisher started getting cold feet after the developer’s prior title, Haze, was met with lackluster reviews. Free Radical has since shut its doors, being transformed into Crytek UK.
Attack Squadrons
Most of the games on this list were never played by the general public in any form, but Star Wars: Attack Squadrons stands as an exception. The browser based title went into beta in 2014 for several months, and never made it out of that phase. This multiplayer title would have featured sixteen player dog fights over classic Star Wars locations. At least in this case there were people who got to experience this title before it was sent to a farm upstate.
Project Hermes
Star Wars has always been for the whole family - little children included - but rarely has it looked as cute as it would have in a title that only ever got the name Project Hermes. The doomed game was to be in the same vein as Super Bombad Racing, but this time as a platformer instead of a racer. A prototype was made, showcasing the adorable art style, but full on development never got anywhere before the project was shelved for good.
Rebel Agent
Among the mysterious canceled titles, there stand several of them that were all connected by the word “Rebel.” One can assume that they all would have dealt with rebelling, but one cannot say for sure if they were all to be a part of the rebellion of the original trilogy. Perhaps some of the rebelling would have been against the Jedi order, or a stormtrooper’s personal rebellion against the empire. Because of the almost non existent details, the questions will never be answered
Smuggler
Smugglers are a big part of the Star Wars lore. Without the likes of Han Solo, the galaxy would be a far less interesting place. Rarely have players been able to control these lone wolves, with them usually taking a supporting role. Star Wars: Smuggler was going to change that, had it ever been unleashed on the public. Beginning life sometime around 2004, all that really exists of the game is some art and vocal confirmation that it was in the works before being canned.
Episode VII: Shadows of The Sith
Obviously, this one comes from way back in the day, when a true Episode VII was just a thought in hopeful fans’ imaginations. Sometime around 2004, LucasArts started the early planning stages of a game titled Episode VII: Shadows of the Sith. In it, players would have controlled a Jedi sometime after the events of Episode VI. Not much became of the project, though it does bear some resemblance to The Force Unleashed games released several years after this game’s spark burned out.
Untitled Chewbacca Game
Chewbacca’s exploits between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope remained largely unexplored until Solo. Even then, fans don’t know everything he did during the large gap between trilogies. This adventure game, which never received a title, was going to fill in the blanks, but never got the chance to do so. It was prioritized over at least one game, but even canceling another project to ensure Chewie’s game saw the light of day wasn’t enough to make that a reality.
Unreleased Fighting Game
Not every canceled project gets the dignity of even having a code name before it is taken to a farm upstate. All that can be said about this canceled fighting game is that it was to feature duels between Jedi, with players utilizing all the typical Jedi toolset. There is video evidence of a prototype, which is admittedly more than most titles on this list. Knowing the franchise’s history with fighting games, it’s hard to be sad that this one was never completed.
First Assault
When LucasFilm was acquired by Disney, many projects were sent to the great gig in the sky. Star Wars: First Assault was a first person shooter that looked like it took a few cues from the Call of Duty series. After the company was bought, the game crossed the rainbow bridge, but footage of a beta test eventually surfaced. Thankfully, a first person shooter set in the Star Wars universe did come out, but First Assault probably would have been a different beast than Battlefront.
Force Unleashed III
Few games really make someone feel like they are a Jedi. Even when the characters are a part of the noble order, the game play simply fails to capture their power. The Force Unleashed was the first to translate that feeling into a controller as players controlled Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. The second title was not as beloved, but still a blast to play. Sadly, a third entry was put down while still in the planning stages. Ideas for the project were said to be a radical departure from the first two in the series.
