The Game Awards 2021 gave us our first look at a brand-new Star Wars game - and the internet got very excited, indeed. While a CGI trailer is never much to base expectations on, the CGI trailer for Star Wars Eclipse sure is a good CGI trailer, and while details on the game are thin at the moment, it’s inevitably got fans in a fervour.
In case you missed it, here is that trailer - and yep, it looks like Star Wars, alright.
Star Wars Eclipse is in development at the French studio Quantic Dream - best known for narrative adventures including Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human. As we said in our report on the new game’s reveal, Quantic Dream has a… mixed reputation amongst those who follow game development. And it seems that reputation might be throwing a small spanner into the works when it comes to making Eclipse.
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According to a post on Reddit’s Leaks and Rumours pages, known leaker of plenty of (later shown to be accurate) insider info Tom Henderson has cast doubt on Star Wars Eclipse releasing any sooner than in three to four years. And that timeline is partly because of the game’s studio being unable to recruit the right people for the project. “QD Paris is currently struggling with hiring staff,” he posted, adding, “I wonder why.”
The why might have something to do with reports of a terrible working environment at Quantic Dream, widely shared across the games media in 2018. French publications Le Monde, Canard PC, and Mediapart all reported that the studio had a toxic working culture, and that senior male members of staff - including founder and CEO David Cage, who is working closely on Star Wars Eclipse - showed little or no respect to female colleagues. Cage and fellow studio head Guillaume de Fondaumière were accused of ignoring concerns raised by staff, and of acting inappropriately themselves.
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Cage and Quantic Dream sued two of the publications for libel - a process that only concluded in September 2021 with the studio winning one of the cases and losing another. Needless to say, it’s a studio with a damaged reputation, which will adversely affect its chances of bringing in development talent. Both Cage and de Fondaumière remain at Quantic Dream.
The three- to four-year release prediction is also based on the suggestion that the game engine used at Quantic Dream is unsuitable for an open-world game - which Eclipse would seem to be, then. We’ll keep across developments on this game and its production, so any updates: you’ll find them on these pages.
Featured Image Credit: Lucasfilm Games, Quantic DreamTopics: Star Wars
