According to Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, EA was planning on a Star Wars Battlefront spin-off game to be released at the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. This game was apparently being developed under the codename Viking and would have had open world features. Apparently Viking was one of the titles that would have replaced the cancelled Star Wars title that was being developed by EA Vancouver.
Viking was supposed to be a joint collaboration between EA Vancouver and Criterion but there were practical issues of getting the work done between the two teams that were located on two different continents. Criterion was to be the lead studio on the project and apparently had ambitions of creating a game that put characters and story at the centre. This, along with the logistical issues, made EA’s top management reconsider as they wanted the game to be ready in approximately a year and a half to be ready for the next-gen.
Of course, that is not the only Star Wars game that EA will have been working on. After the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order it is likely that Respawn will be creating a sequel that follows on from the events of the game. In addition, there is a smaller Star Wars game in development. EA is likely trying to make as much use of the Star Wars license as it can while the exclusivity deal remains in effect. This exclusivity contract has three more years on with it expiring in 2023. At this point, it is unclear whether Disney would renew a contract considering the tiny amount of Star Wars games that have been released, or if it will instead move to a licensing model and work with multiple publishers which would likely see more Star Wars titles spanning genres getting released.
Source: Kotaku
