Footage from a canceled Star Wars Battlefront video game has resurfaced thanks to fans who want the game to live on.
The first 15 minutes of the game were leaked back in 2009 after Battlefront 3's production shut down. Fans have now managed to take that footage and post side-by-side comparisons of different milestones in the game's development. The intro includes a starship lifting off into space from the ground, a Jedi fighting off a rancor, and more moments fans can only dream of controlling themselves.
It still looks like a game from the late 2000s. But in a matter of weeks between milestones, vast improvements were made in graphics and gameplay. Sadly, that was as far as the project would go. Battlefront 3 was canceled in 2009 with the game pretty far in development. Free Radical Design was struggling to develop a different title and didn't hesitate to take on a franchise as big as Star Wars. Unfortunately, when LucasArts underwent major internal restructuring in 2008, it was no longer willing to pay Free Radical what it would cost to finish the game at the highest quality possible. The studio crumbled, and the unfinished game went down with it.
This is not the only Battlefront 3 that ultimately didn't pan out. Battlefront 2 (2017) is still the last of its kind, even though DICE pitched another Battlefront sequel that EA reportedly rejected. Developers have since stopped ongoing Battlefront 2 updates, and EA is now working with Respawn and Lucasfilm games on a handful of other Star Wars titles.
Though Free Radical's Battlefront 3 will always remain a game lost to a dismantled studio, Lucasfilm Games and Quantic Dream recently announced Star Wars: Eclipse, a future game set in The High Republic era. The long-awaited LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga finally has a 2022 release date, and gamers in the VR and mobile communities have a handful of present and future options to explore. There's plenty to look forward to, even as fans look back at what could have been.
Source: YouTube