EA's Star Wars game with developer Respawn Entertainment, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, might have a tentative release date of late 2019. The Star Wars license has been through a troubled history with EA since the publisher obtained the IP from the now defunct Lucasarts. The promising and exciting single player game Star Wars 1313 was cancelled before the acquisition, 2015's Star Wars: Battlefront was poorly received for lack of content and Star Wars: Battlefront II received an even harsher backlash for a microtransaction controversy.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order potentially represents a new era for EA and Star Wars games. It'll be the publisher's first attempt at a purely single-player experience with the license. (Former Naughty Dog director Amy Hennig, of Uncharted fame, was working on a single-player title that's since been cancelled.) Fallen Order will also explore a rather untapped period of Star Wars history. Although there's not many confirmed details available yet, fans might not have to wait very long to play Fallen Order.
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Game Fragger reports that during EA's second quarter fiscal 2019 earnings call, it was hinted that Respawn could be targeting a holiday 2019 release for Fallen Order. During the call, CEO Andrew Wilson revealed that Respawn Entertainment is working on two big games for late 2019. Wilson explained:
Across multiple studios, we have new projects underway, including games from Respawn that are slated to launch by next holiday season.
There are only a few (announced) games that Respawn Entertainment is working on currently. The developer, who was acquired by EA in 2017, is working on a third Titanfall game, an Oculus Rift VR game and, of course, Jedi: Fallen Order. It's certainly possible that the multiple games that Respawn is planning on releasing in 2019 won't include Fallen Order but a holiday 2019 release makes sense. Respawn Entertainment's co-founder Vince Zampella announced Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order at EA 2018. At that time, it was revealed that the game was targeting a 2019 release date. In addition, Fallen Order releasing during the holidays will line it up with the cinematic release of Star Wars: Episode IX, which is set to premiere on Dec. 20, 2019. EA did something very similar with 2017's Star Wars Battlefront II whose story mode tied very directly into The Last Jedi.
It's possible but unlikely that Jedi: Fallen Order will have a similar link to Episode 9. This is mainly because the game and the final chapter of the Skywalker saga will take place at two very different moments in the Star Wars timeline. Respawn has played its cards very close to its chest when it comes to Fallen Order. Although it is known that the action-adventure game will taken place shortly after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and follow a surviving Padawan of Order 66.
Since Disney acquired Star Wars and purged stories from the Expanded Universe, there's been very little canonical exploration of the period between Episode III and IV in Star Wars. There are some obvious examples. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the most notable one as it told the story of how the rebels stole the plans for the Death Star, but there's also the TV show Star Wars Rebels and a couple comic book arcs. Jedi: Fallen Order, as the name suggests, will likely be a deep dive into a topic that neither Rogue One nor Rebels concerned themselves too much with and explain how the Jedi Order was completely eradicated.
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Source: Game Fragger
