EA revealed its long-term intentions with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order during its recent earnings call, citing the game as the start of a new franchise for the publisher. EA CEO Andrew Wilson said that it is the “first title in an entirely new franchise,” and while we’ve had mountains of leaks, speculation, and rumors about a sequel, this is the first time EA itself has confirmed it intends to give players more Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has performed incredibly well, a surprise coming from a publisher that has notoriously canceled or changed most of its single-player projects into living multiplayer affairs that can be monetized. Just a couple of days ago, EA noted that the game had reached 10 million unique players, and back in January, the company said it had “exceeded expectations” at 8 million units sold.
Developer Respawn also knows people are eager for more. For May 4th (Star Wars Day, “May the Fourth be with you”), the team released an update to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order with new cosmetics and challenges to undertake, giving players a reason to revisit the beloved Star Wars adventure.
Previous job listings have been unearthed that point towards Respawn working on a sequel or (as we now know) at least another game within the franchise. It’s unknown if it will be a sequel proper, continuing the story of Cal Kestis, or explore the life of another fallen Jedi somewhere in the vast Star Wars universe. Respawn has said that it doesn’t want to be seen as a “one-trick pony” or pigeonholed into the FPS genre, and the sheer success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is providing the studio a pedigree that breaks down those assumptions. With its enormous success, hopefully EA steps back and allows Respawn to have full creative control of the next game in the Star Wars Jedi franchise instead of putting its future in jeopardy as it has done with so many other promising single-player narrative-driven Star Wars titles.
