Amy Hennig's Star Wars Is Still in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Jabba the Gutted

by Sammy Barker Fri 29th Jan 2016

Star Wars Amy Hennig Visceral Games PS4 1

Upon leaving Naughty Dog, the mastermind behind Uncharted, Amy Hennig, started work at Visceral Games, where she's developing a brand new Star Wars game. But speaking to shareholders, publisher EA has warned that it may yet be a few years away. "We are obviously announcing that we are investing in some action-based SKUs by bringing people like Jade Raymond and Amy Henning into our organisation to help build those," exec Blake Jorgensen explained. "Those are obviously a few years out in our SKU plan."

To be fair, EA's got a pretty packed slate ahead of it right now. It's said that Battlefield 5 will be out in time for Christmas, while Mass Effect Andromeda and Titanfall 2 will be there or there abouts. In addition, it's got EA Sports UFC 2, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, and all of its annual licensed sports games on the way. We reckon that it can probably ride the Star Wars Battlefront sales train this year.

[source files.shareholder.com, via neogaf.com]

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.

1
Gamer83
Fri 29th Jan 2016

Another talent that will go to waste at EA. Too bad Sony couldn't have found a spot for her at one of its other studios.

2
get2sammyb
Fri 29th Jan 2016

@Gamer83 Do you think? I get the impression they've brought Jade Raymond and Amy in to elevate the company's output - I'd be surprised if they let their talents wilt, personally.

3
Gamer83
Fri 29th Jan 2016

@get2sammyb
I just don't trust EA, Activision or SquareEnix. Three companies I feel ruin everything they touch. They have some popular franchises. Doesn't mean they're good, however.

4
get2sammyb
Fri 29th Jan 2016

@Gamer83 Haha, fair enough. I guess EA has a lot of winning over to do, which is a good thing... For me, the announcement of Mirror's Edge is a good step in the right direction. They're clearly not going to make much money from that game, but it strikes me they're doing it because so many fans want it.

5
Gamer83
Fri 29th Jan 2016

@get2sammyb
EA has also given away free games before. It does one good thing for every 10 bad things. Once the new Mirror's Edge fails to sell in big numbers we'll never hear about the series again.

6
BAMozzy
Fri 29th Jan 2016

I am really looking forward to see what this Star Wars game delivers. I had high hopes for 1313 before that was cancelled and I am a big fan of the Uncharted series so this could be the Star Wars game I am looking for...

@Gamer83 As for the fact EA are publishing it doesn't bother me. I don't think they are the worst choice although I don't necessarily always agree with their practices (remember online passes). I don't know how much influence they have over the developers and impact on decisions regarding the games or how much the developers are to 'blame'. I certainly don't look at who is publishing a game as a priority but the game itself and what it offers me.

I admit I am not a fan of Ubisofts games of late but that is more down to the studio's and their direction. I don't buy 'sports' games but EA dominates that and it seems people are happy with them. I am really looking forward to Mass Effect and Battlefield interests me too. No game that doesn't sell well is likely to get a sequel - even those that do aren't always guaranteed either. I know its a case of damned if they do, damned if they don't - people want new IP's but also want more of their favourite franchises. Developers may not always want to or have an idea on how to take a game forward and want to do something different. II would rather have a game a developer wants to make and feels passionate about than a 'forced' sequel.

7
Victor_Meldrew
Fri 29th Jan 2016

Give me Mass Effect and a proper PGA title.

8
imtom2002
Fri 29th Jan 2016

...erm what's an SKU? 😳

9
Sora420
Fri 29th Jan 2016

Stock keeping unit

10
BigP
Fri 29th Jan 2016

At least they're going to take their time with the game, so I don't mind waiting a few years if we get a good story driven Star Wars RPG open world game... I hope that's what we get anyway. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

11
RaymanFan2
Fri 29th Jan 2016

Obviously.

12
banacheck
Fri 29th Jan 2016

@imtom2002 Asks:

...erm what's an SKU? 😳

SKU stands for "Stock Keeping Unit."

13
RoosterCogburn
Sat 30th Jan 2016

It won't be an rpg, or open world for that matter. They brought her in to make a Star Wars Uncharted game. Pure action with cheesy comedy sprinkled in, cut scenes galore and 3rd person cover shooting with some force powers and lightsaber duels thrown in for good measure. As long as EA has the rights to Star Wars I don't think we will get an rpg version, to similar to mass effect and they want something as mainstream as possible.