Lucasfilm has been making good work of building up the Star Wars franchise as a whole. Some passionate creative talent for the universe was needed after the sequel trilogy fizzled out in quality, and Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni brought in just that. Aside from the TV/movie space, Lucasfilm is looking to branch out in bringing some varied, quality Star Wars video games as well. EA had an exclusive publishing deal for years, but it's finally ending.
Now, different developers/publishers are finally allowed to get their hands on it, with Ubisoft up to bat through Massive Entertainment. Thankfully, the game's set to be a story-driven, open-world game. Sounds promising, but this will also bring out reservations among fans.
Excited: The End Of EA's Exclusive Deal
As mentioned, EA has had an exclusive publishing deal with Disney/Lucasfilm to create Star Wars games since 2013. However, they largely didn't show for it considering all the time they had--not to mention resources. Granted, recently they have seen an injection of quality in Fallen Order, which actually got a positive reception from the start. Squadrons also proved to be a successful, fun VR experience and Battlefront II got some improvement after the disastrous release period.
But making 2/3 good, major games isn't making good use of the incredible license they had. Naturally, the news of Ubisoft developing a Star Wars game is news fans have been waiting for after seeing the gaming space go to waste for so long.
Nervous: Ubisoft's Buggy Record
While hearing that the revived LucasArts brand is cause for celebration because of the implication that EA no longer has a monopolized vice-grip over the license, seeing that Ubisoft is now taking a stab at it isn't guaranteeing success in quality.
There are a number of reasons, but this one will be for their infamous reputation of bug-riddled launches. Assassin's Creed Unity was definitely the worst offender of a buggy, poorly developed game as well as Watch Dogs: Legion, which received a lukewarm reception.
Excited: Competition
Having Disney/Lucasfilm give EA complete, free reign to publish Star Wars games was a terrible decision to make (at least in hindsight), as the limits of the IP are endless. Chaining Star Wars to EA greatly held the property back when it should have been a renaissance for it overall, gaming included.
So, even if Ubisoft getting their hands on a game isn't very inspiring, the fact that more than one publisher can play with it means competition. Now EA, and surely other publishers to come, will have to ensure more quality to their product since others will happily compete for it.
Nervous: Microtransactions
Another plague upon the gaming arena is the implementation of microtransactions. This is one of the major reasons EA was a poor choice against the fans to have a fun, engaging, complete experience from launch, as the publishing giant uses microtransactions as a major business model within their games (FIFA, Madden, etc.). It was among the biggest issues with Battlefront II early on.
Ubisoft, while not as notorious for this, like to make use of this also. Given the money-raking nature of the Star Wars license, a publisher getting their hands on it makes it a risk, with forced microtransactions leaving players praying they are just for cosmetics at worst. Games are expensive and aren't getting any cheaper, so having Ubisoft or Massive shoehorn in MTX galore would be a massive letdown.
Excited: Open-World, Story Driven
Fans finally got a proper experience in the story-driven department with 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, but there needs to be more of this. Thankfully, along with the announcement of Ubisoft/Massive Entertainment working on a Star Wars game, was that it would also be open-world and story-driven.
This franchise is one of vast sci-fi fantasy material, so this should have been explored much more than it has been lately. An open-world setting provides plenty of opportunities to give players a content-rich and stunning world to traverse. The focus on the narrative structure is also an extremely welcome piece of information, as the possibilities are equally as vast. There's a huge timeline to play within the universe, so it's thrilling to think about where things can go and what players they will meet.
Nervous: Ubisoft's Open-World Bloat
Conversely, something that could plague this open-world setting is the infamous Ubisoft open-world "bloat" problem. This certainly isn't exclusive to Ubisoft's games, as there are plenty of games that get held back to varying degrees due to the amount of bloat in their worlds.
But games, even in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series, have a notoriety for having large open-worlds just for the sake of having them as a buzz word to sell. The worlds are sometimes too big for their own good, often having barren wastelands with nothing to do or a ton of dull, boring filler content in an attempt to justify size, including the equally-infamous "Ubisoft towers." As they say, "quality over quantity."
Excited: The High Republic
Early last year, Lucasfilm announced that the next big era to be explored in the canon is the High Republic. However, it was revealed that this would (largely) be a publishing campaign. Disney thankfully announced that it will also get a live-action TV series in The Acolyte on Disney+, so perhaps this could be the gateway for more.
It would be a waste to leave this to just books and a single show, so video games could be the next stage for the High Republic. Having an open-world narrative set during the height of the Jedi's power and influence could create some great storytelling in the unfamiliar, exciting territory.
Nervous: Live-Service Model
Along with microtransactions, another potential red flag in gaming is the "live-service" model game. Destiny popularized this, and several publishers and developers have desperately tried cashing in on this concept as well. Anthem is perhaps the biggest casualty to live-service as it crashed and burned practically out the gate.
Even recently, Marvel's Avengers also burnt out rapidly despite having one of the most powerful pop culture brand names on the front. The model's known for being plagued with bugs, half-finished features, incentivized MTX, repetitive and dull multiplayer gameplay grinds as well as very limited, unfulfilling single-player content. Fans will surely have their fingers crossed that this doesn't turn out to be built on live-service.
Excited: The Mandalorian
Disney+'s flagship series The Mandalorian is what started the Star Wars franchise's redemption arc for many fans, and it may have revealed a premise that should be revisited in gaming. The episodic, anthology-style with an eventual, overarching story arc of the Star Wars' first-ever live-action TV show proved a winning formula, so a game based on a bounty hunter could make for a great open-world action-adventure.
While not a requirement, it would be great to have the playable protagonist be a Mandalorian too, hopping around planets and galaxies taking up bounties, as it will easily capitalize on the show's acclaim.
Nervous: Another Post-III, Pre-IV Story
One of Lucasfilm's "comfort foods" for supplemental Star Wars content is to go back and tell a story taking place after Revenge of the Sith and before A New Hope. It's an understandably good timeline to fill in gaps, as that's when the Empire's rise took place, the Dark Times/Great Jedi Purge, and has given for some good stories including Fallen Order. However, it's getting beaten to death.
Doing a High Republic story is just one way of avoiding this issue, but the galaxy's the limit with this IP. It would be a bummer to see Ubisoft resort to this tired trend.