New Star Wars video game leaks, EA throws up hands and makes it official

Evidence of a new Star Wars game leaked earlier today. Whether they were always planning it or the leak forced their hand, EA has made it official.

In November of last year, Electronic Art’s Respawn Entertainment released the highly-anticipated action-adventure game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Two years before that, EA took a big swing with the action-shooter game, Star Wars Battlefront II, and whiffed horribly. Not many people liked the Battlefront games, thanks in no small part to their predatory loot box system that the United States Federal Trade Commission inexplicably deemed okay, and some foreign governments had to outlaw as illegal gambling. It was a bleak time for Star Wars games.

But that’s all behind us now, and with the success of Fallen Order, Star Wars gamers are keeping their eyes peeled for the next big thing. Well, thanks to a surprise leak that hit Microsoft’s Xbox Store earlier today, it looks like the next big thing is almost here. The leak consisted of artwork for a game called Star Wars: Squadrons with a caption that reads, “Pilots Wanted.” Oh, and there’s a “pre-order now” button. So, what could it mean?

"Ummmmm Hello there! from StarWarsLeaks"

The artwork consists of a Rebel X-wing pilot and an Imperial TIE-Fighter pilot, set against ships dogfighting. The last time we saw a pilot on the cover of a Disney-era Star Wars game was in Battlefront II. That pilot’s name was Iden Versio.

Iden Versio Battlefront II crop

As you can see, the Imperial and Rebellion insignias on Iden’s helmets from Battlefront II are different in color and design from the ones on the pilot’s helmets from the Squadrons leak.

Anyway, after the leak, EA apparently thought it might as well roll with it and made the game official, revealing that there would be a trailer coming next week:

Pew pew. Hopefully Star Wars Squadrons can go down the path Fallen Order carved out and further restore the good reputation of Star Wars games.

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h/t IGN