New Star Wars: Hunters trademarks heavily suggest that the competitive arena combat game will be at E3 2021. Fans of Star Wars were caught off guard by Star Wars: Hunters' February Nintendo Direct reveal, but Lucasfilm Games and its developers have been quiet since revealing the game's title and genre. Now, it seems like it may be time to take the lid off of the Switch and mobile title.
Star Wars: Hunters is planned as an action-packed, PvP-focused game, but official details are so far scarce. Developed by Zynga and NaturalMotion, the free-to-play third-person shooter will feature Star Wars characters from across the galaxy and taking place between Star Wars: Episode VI and VII, players will likely get to jump into the action as the likes of Din Djarin, Bossk, IG-88, and possibly even Boba Fett. There will also be lightsaber-wielding Jedi and Sith characters, though who will be included at launch is unconfirmed. On the short-but-vague wait until Star Wars: Hunters' nebulous 2021 release, rumors have grown that its next showing will come very soon.
According to a tweet by journalist Jordan Maison, new trademarks for Star Wars: Hunters have "just popped up" online, leading him to reasonably speculate the game will be present during E3 2021, which begins on Friday, June 12. The game is most likely to appear at the June 15 Nintendo Direct, since the initial reveal was also at one of Nintendo's popular streams.
For now, there's no official confirmation of Star Wars: Hunters being at E3 2021. Since the game is set to launch the same year, though, it’s likely it will get at least a shoutout, if not a complete reveal, at this year’s all-digital convention. At this point, it's not even known if Star Wars: Hunters will be a predominantly mobile game or release on more home consoles other than the Nintendo Switch, so there's plenty that needs to be shown and soon ahead of the game's launch.
The current lack of news hasn’t stopped speculation, with one popular comparison being that Star Wars: Hunters will be like Overwatch. Other rumors claim that Hunters may be Lucasfilm Games’ response to the success of Fortnite, which makes massive revenues off its skins with its free games-as-a-service model. Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes has been taking the mantle of mobile game for quite some time, so it’s also possible that Star Wars: Hunters will be another trek into the free-to-play, pay-to-win mobile market. The mobile route could likely stir some ire among the community, especially if an Overwatch-esque Star Wars game is on the table. Luckily, E3 2021 and (most likely) more Star Wars: Hunters news is just around the bend.
Star Wars: Hunters will be available for Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android in 2021.
Source: Jordan Maison/Twitter