These days, there are more video games to play than ever before. With indie developers and small teams around the world always experimenting with new ideas and genres, it's become all too easy to rack up a pile of games you'll never get around to.
But this generous selection of smaller, more diverse experiences only makes up for the fact that triple-A titles take longer and cost more to develop than before. Projects are revealed ahead of release using CG trailers, which may or may not exist, and often serve as a means of recruiting development talent rather than giving an idea of what the finished game will look like.
Take a look at projects like Cyberpunk 2077 or Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I started and finished my entire college degree between the announcement and release of both games, and anyone studying now can have the same experience with Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic.
When will Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic be released?
One of the biggest reveals at The Game Awards this month was Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. It's been 20 years since the last installment in the series, and with the remake currently stuck in development hell, it's been confirmed that Mass Effect trilogy director Casey Hudson will be returning to the genre he firmly established with an all-new adventure. The trailer is exciting as we venture to an alien planet with a few unknown characters to explore relics from the era of ancient empires. It told us almost nothing about the game itself, but it looked really cool.
There is no gameplay, release date, or platform information in the trailer. It was clear that the game was in the early stages of development, and this reveal was simply a means to spread the hype and let the wider gaming world know that 'this exists and we're making it'. We saw something similar happen four years ago with Quantic Dream's Star Wars Eclipse, but we haven't heard anything since. Is it coming out by any chance? Who knows?
Bloomberg's Jason Schreier sparked fire right after the reveal by saying that the game would be lucky if it released in 2030, as the studio working on Fates of the Old Republic was founded earlier this year. This means the game is likely to be on PlayStation 7. This timeline means the game may still be in pre-production as Casey Hudson plans out the overall vision for the project and assembles the team needed to create a triple-A RPG of this caliber in the modern era. These things take time, money, and a lot of patience. This will take years, no matter how excited you are about it.
Casey Hudson came to the rescue shortly after Schreyer's comments began to hit the headlines, saying, “Don't worry about the 'not until 2030' rumors. The game will be out before then. We're not getting any younger!” None of us are my friends, but we hope this release window isn't too optimistic considering we're just a few days away from the end of 2025. Hudson is incredibly experienced at making RPGs and has helped create some of the best work of all time, but we can't ignore the fact that it takes years to create a triple-A experience of this scale and scope, whether we want to admit it or not.
It's hard to get excited about early video game reveals these days.
We also don't know what game the fate of the Old Republic will be. Yes. It will be an RPG. But will it be an open world, an open zone, or a more linear experience? Unless you're planning on stealing a title that was first released 20 years ago, all of this will be a major factor in determining how long your project will take to develop. Not to mention the need to create a variety of systems from scratch. Maybe I'm so used to major delays and broken promises in the Triple-A space that I'm just incredibly jaded, but Schreier doesn't seem to be far off the mark here.
So why is the game being announced so early with a beautiful reveal trailer that doesn't tell us anything? That's partly to build hype and build anticipation in the minds of consumers, but development pipelines are so long these days that if updates aren't delivered on a regular basis, you're likely to forget the game exists. It also paints an unreasonable demand in the minds of players who don't understand that when Cyberpunk 2077 was released with its original trailer in 2013, this didn't necessarily mean it was in active development. But the average Joe doesn't care, he just wants to play the game.
As mentioned earlier, trailers like this can also be used as a recruiting tool for studios. The studio will want to quickly grow its team during its current development phase and attract talent now that the game is live. If you're talented and looking for steady work for a few years, you might be tempted to jump into a project like this. But nothing will change until the video game industry takes a hard look at itself and recognizes how unsustainable its ballooning budgets and overly long production cycles are.
I'm excited about Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, but it's a shame that so much of my life will pass me by when it's finally time to play it. I think this reveal trailer will be a distant memory by then. Maybe you'll get another degree.
