There are more video games to play than ever these days. Thanks to indie developers and smaller teams across the world experimenting with new ideas and genres all the time, it has become far too easy to amass a pile of games you will never, ever get through.
But this generous selection of smaller, more diverse experiences merely covers the deficit of triple-A titles taking longer and costing more to develop than ever before. Projects are unveiled using CG trailers so far ahead of release that they might as well not exist, often acting as a means of recruiting development talent, instead of offering an idea of what the finished game will end up looking like.
Just look at the projects like Cyberpunk 2077 or Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I started and finished an entire university degree by the time in between both games being announced and then released, and anyone studying right now may have the same experience with Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic.
When Is Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic Coming Out?
One of the biggest reveals at The Game Awards this month was Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. Two decades after the last entry in the series, and as a remake currently lingers in development hell, it was confirmed that Mass Effect trilogy director Casey Hudson would be returning to the genre he helped cement with an all-new adventure. The trailer was luscious as we ventured to an alien planet with a few unknown characters to explore the relics of an ancient Imperial era. It told us next to nothing about the game itself, but boy did it look nice.
The trailer featured no gameplay, no release window, and no platforms. It was evident that the game was very early in development and this reveal was simply a means to drum up a load of hype and let the wider gaming world know that ‘hey, this exists, and we’re making it.’ We saw something similar occur with Quantic Dream’s Star Wars Eclipse four years back, and we haven’t heard a thing about it since. Is it ever coming out? Who even knows?
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier added fuel to the fire shortly after the reveal by stating that the studio working on Fates of the Old Republic was only founded earlier this year, so we’ll be lucky if the game launches in 2030, meaning it would likely be on the PlayStation 7. This timeline means that the game could still be in pre-production, as Casey Hudson plans the project’s overall vision and builds the team needed to make a triple-A RPG of this caliber in the modern era. These things will take time, money, and plenty of patience. Regardless of how excited you might be about it, this thing is years away.
Casey Hudson came to the rescue shortly after Schreier’s comments began to be reported on in earnest, saying: “Don’t worry about the “not till 2030” rumors. Game will be out before then. I’m not getting any younger!” None of us are my dude, but considering we are mere days away from the end of 2025, I just hope this release window isn’t too optimistic. Hudson is incredibly experienced when it comes to creating RPGs, and helped to some of the best of all-time, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that triple-A experiences of this size and scope take several years to make, whether you want to admit it or not.
It’s Hard To Get Excited About Early Video Game Reveals Nowadays
We also don’t know what kind of game Fate of the Old Republic is going to be. Yes, it’s going to be an RPG — but will it be an open world, open zone, or a more linear experience? These will all be major factors in how long the project takes to develop, not to mention that a lot of different systems will need to be created from scratch, unless you plan on pilfering from titles that first came out two decades ago. Perhaps I’m just spectacularly jaded and so accustomed to big delays and broken promises in the triple-A space, but Schreier doesn’t seem terribly off the mark here.
So, why are games announced this early with beautiful reveal trailers that pretty much tell us nothing? Partially it’s to drum up hype and plant expectations within the minds of consumers, but development pipelines are so long nowadays that you’re likely to forget a game exists if updates don’t come at a regular cadence. It also paints unreasonable demands within the minds of players, who don’t understand that when Cyberpunk 2077 was revealed with its original trailer back in 2013, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was in active development. But average joes don’t care, they want to play the game.
And like I mentioned earlier, trailers like this can also be used as recruitment tools for the studio, who are likely rapidly growing the team at this point in development and want to try and attract talent now the game is actually public. If you’re talented and looking for steady work for a few years, it might be awfully tempting to jump onto a project like this. But until the video game industry takes a good hard look at itself and recognises how unsustainable its ballooning budgets and overlong production cycles are, nothing will change.
I’m excited about Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, but it sucks that a decent chunk of my life will have passed me by when the time finally comes to play it. By then, I imagine this reveal trailer will be a distant memory. Maybe I’ll even have another degree.
