The launch of Star Wars: Eclipse is much likely far, far away

If the announcement trailer of Star Wars: Eclipse made your tummy feel as fuzzy as Chewie’s buttcrack, welcome to the club. Witnessing the birth of a new Star Wars game always warms my heart. Well, in this case, it was more like an ultrasound because the birth is very likely years away. Disappointed, I am.

Yeah, it might “not be the news you’re looking for”, but you were bound to find it anyway. Star Wars: Eclipse is probably not going to enthrall us any time soon. According to Tom Henderson – a renowned industry insider – a launch is likely 4 years away, and even that’s an optimistic approach.

A few things on #StarWarsEclipse

– Being written by QD Paris (David Cage is very much involved)
– Eclipse is believed to be around 3-4 years away MINIMUM
– QD Paris is currently struggling with hiring staff (I wonder why)

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) December 10, 2021

As Henderson points out, it’s pretty hard to develop a game without staff, which Quantic Dream is obviously lacking. Obviously, you ask? Yes, obviously, because the Detroit developer has experienced quite the exodus after some serious sexual harassment allegations in 2018. So yes, that might put some strain on the acquisition of new employees. So, if you find QD’s lack of staff… disturbing, imagine applying for a job where some have the nickname “Super Star Destroyer”, if you know what I mean.

Another big issue was also addressed by Henderson in a follow-up tweet: game engines. Games like Detroit and Beyond: Two Souls have shown us that Quantic Dream has one helluva nifty engine. But nifty as it is, it wasn’t designed for an open-world setting. Reworking it takes a lot of manpower, which explains the 60+ job openings at QD Paris.

The biggest on the dev side is their internal QD engine, which wasn’t built for an open-world title.

There are currently 60+ job openings for Quantic Dream Paris and 9 in Montreal. – https://t.co/B4lumbQmnN

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) December 10, 2021

So, there you have it. There’s no way of sugar-coating it. Star Wars: Eclipse will be joining the ranks of games that will take ages to arrive, led by The Elder Scrolls 6 and Half-Life 3. Until then, let’s just polish our lightsabers to the announcement trailer, shall we?