Welcome back everyone to another editon of Raiders of The Lost Media. This time around I tell you about a video game Star Wars fans wanted but unfortunaly didn't get. Also a surprise part of this will briefly tell you about Star Wars: Battlefront IV.
Part One - What was Star Wars: Battlefront III?
Star Wars: Battlefront III was the expected third installment to the Star Wars: Battlefront series. The game went throught various stages of "development hell" before being cancelled.
Part Two - Development Hell
Now typically when I do these there usually in short paragraphs, but for this game that's not the case. For this part I'll break the game's history down by years. So this is going to get long so bare with me.
2006
LucasArts approaches Free Radical Design and ask them to make Battlefront III. Due to the nature of of the project and the fact that they'd be working on a Star Wars game, Free Radical accepts the company's offer and begin to work on Battlefront III. They see this as a great opportunity to show what their team is capable of and their engine.
2007
Work still continues. Mid-late of that year bulids were compiled for use to test on consoles, though they are still in a very rough stage. Relations between LucasArts and Free Radical Design are still good, however things at LucasArts are shaky.
2008 - The Downfall of Free Radical Design
Now during this year this is when things get crazy. Over at Free Radical Design things are not looking good. The Haze team has been struggling for some time now, and Ubisoft has been sending producers over to Free Radical to get the game ready in time for it's release, as it has already been delayed from the PlayStation 3's launch. These producers have been very tough on the team and morale is beginning to thin; rumors are going around that Free Radical is sending Battlefront III developers over to Haze (thought as the circumstances show, this is not out of free will and has more to do with contractual obligations and the fact they want Haze out the door). David Doak and Steve Ellis have decided to come clean to LucasArts and ask for a delayed release date for Battlefront III, due to internal studio struggles. This is unfortunate because around this time Jim Ward has left the company and LucasArts' management was running the company until the new CEO arrived. However they agree that this will not bode well for Free Radical Design.
Somewhere in mid-2008, Darrell Rodriguez arrives and begin to cut cost at LA. Countless projects have been cancelled and many employees are laid off. Free Radical begins to notice and now starting to worry. Because of how far the project is, Rodriguez allows Free Radical to continue work on Battlefront III. This turns from being a dream to a nightmare for them, as he is now pushing the company and the project as far as he can and as a result morale for Free Radical is beginning to drop yet again. This was the last thing they wanted. Eventually relations with Free Radical Design and LucasArts get strained so bad that LucasArts refuses to pay Free Radical. They then set unreachable milestones and force the company to work unpaid.
In late 2008, Rebellion finds out about the struggles over at Free Radical Design and offers to finish Battlefront III for them. LucasArts catches wind of this and shelves the idea. Meanwhile enthusiasm for Free Radical is still declining, this would later force David Doak to leave the company because he couldn't handle the stress LA is forcing him to deal with. Regardless Free Radical still wants to finish the game. During this time relations between Free Radical and LucasArts have finally hit an all time low. Internal videos are being shown to LA employees, depicting Free Radical Design's take on the studio management. This crosses a line and Darrell Rodriguez orders the game to be cancelled. He's fully aware that money in Free Radical's bank is beginning to run low and so he refuses to pay them the amount owned in the contract. He then forces them into a corner by explaining that he will take them to court and make the case until money ran out, or give them a very small sum if they just walk away. Free Radical at this point is in no position to fight LucasArts, so they had to accept the small sum and walk away. During the Christmas season, Free Radical Design has no choice but to enter administration. All the months of unpaid work had run their bank account, and the money they accepted from LA was only a small amount of what they were actually owned. Soon after their Christmas party, Free Radical employees arrived to work to find the doors locked and a note telling them to meet up at a local hotel. It was there that a vast majority of them would find out that they no longer had jobs and were here to collect their severance packages. Those who were allowed to remain were told to gut the studio and pack up all their equipment so they were ready to move into their new studio. Crytek eventually bought Free Radical Design and all the employees who still had jobs now work for Crytek developers.
2009 - Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
Somewhere in mid-2008, Darrell Rodriguez arrives and begin to cut cost at LA. Countless projects have been cancelled and many employees are laid off. Free Radical begins to notice and now starting to worry. Because of how far the project is, Rodriguez allows Free Radical to continue work on Battlefront III. This turns from being a dream to a nightmare for them, as he is now pushing the company and the project as far as he can and as a result morale for Free Radical is beginning to drop yet again. This was the last thing they wanted. Eventually relations with Free Radical Design and LucasArts get strained so bad that LucasArts refuses to pay Free Radical. They then set unreachable milestones and force the company to work unpaid.
In late 2008, Rebellion finds out about the struggles over at Free Radical Design and offers to finish Battlefront III for them. LucasArts catches wind of this and shelves the idea. Meanwhile enthusiasm for Free Radical is still declining, this would later force David Doak to leave the company because he couldn't handle the stress LA is forcing him to deal with. Regardless Free Radical still wants to finish the game. During this time relations between Free Radical and LucasArts have finally hit an all time low. Internal videos are being shown to LA employees, depicting Free Radical Design's take on the studio management. This crosses a line and Darrell Rodriguez orders the game to be cancelled. He's fully aware that money in Free Radical's bank is beginning to run low and so he refuses to pay them the amount owned in the contract. He then forces them into a corner by explaining that he will take them to court and make the case until money ran out, or give them a very small sum if they just walk away. Free Radical at this point is in no position to fight LucasArts, so they had to accept the small sum and walk away. During the Christmas season, Free Radical Design has no choice but to enter administration. All the months of unpaid work had run their bank account, and the money they accepted from LA was only a small amount of what they were actually owned. Soon after their Christmas party, Free Radical employees arrived to work to find the doors locked and a note telling them to meet up at a local hotel. It was there that a vast majority of them would find out that they no longer had jobs and were here to collect their severance packages. Those who were allowed to remain were told to gut the studio and pack up all their equipment so they were ready to move into their new studio. Crytek eventually bought Free Radical Design and all the employees who still had jobs now work for Crytek developers.
2009 - Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
LucasArts begins talks with Rebellion. Even though they didn't pay Free Radical Design for six months, they still invested a lot of money into the project. Initially, the plan was to finish the game, but with a deadline for a game to be finished by the end of the year wasn't possible. Rebellion decides to create a handheld version of the game, and so they import the raw assets into their won engine and create "Elite Squadron" a bare-bone version of Battlefront III.
2010 - Star Wars: Battlefront Online
Slant Six Games begins production of Star Wars: Battlefront Online. The game was meant to be a downloadable-only and released only on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Pieces of concept art were made, but the game failed because of lack of enthusiasm.
2011 to 2012 - The Final Nail in The Coffin
Somewhere in December of 2011 rumors fly around that Sparks Unlimited are working on Star Wars Battlefront III. Journalist and fans believe this because at the time the company was working on an unannounced game for LucasArts and refused to to reveal if it was Battlefront III their comment was
"We cannot comment at this time. Please wait for the announcement by LucasArts".
However this dream was shot down on April 12, 2012 when it was revealed the game Sparks Unlimited was working was Lost Plant 3. The game was officially cancelled when back in Oct 30, 2012 Disney bought Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4 billion dollars, since they bought Lucasfilm that meant that Disney also bought LucasArts. They would later cease all internal development at LucasArts and laid off most of it's staff. A new Star Wars Battlefront game would be released on Nov 17, 2015 by EA.
Part Three - Video
So far the only video related to Star Wars Battlefront III is one released by GamerSpawn showcasing the pre-release alpha gameplay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WeX41WfOsY
Part Four - Star Wars Battlefront IV
On Mar 16 of this year concept art would surface showing the cancelled game Star Wars Battlefront IV. It would have been a very different game compared to the other installments of the series. Rather than attempt to fit into previous film and game's canon it would have taken place in an alternate reality where Anakin never turned to the dark side but instead his son Luke and his master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Along with other realities such Darth Maul never being a Sith but a Jedi. It definitely would have been an interesting game. I'll provide you with a link to the concept art but fair warning there's a total of 158 images so if you don't have that much time I recommend you look at some of these instead of all of them. https://imgur.com/gallery/k3N2d
Well that's going to do it for this edition of Raiders of The Lost Media. Next time I'll be doing another one of these and it will be yet another video game. What is it? Here's a hint: Flawless Victory! Fatality!
State of The Project (Jun 23rd - Jul 23rd)
Jun 23rd - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review
Jul 2nd - Cinematic Disasters - Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
Jul 5th - A Look Back at Ant-Man (2015)
Jul 7th - Ant-Man and The Wasp Review
Jul 16th - What You Probably Didn't Know About The Terminator (1984)
Jul 19th - Raiders of The Lost Media - Star Wars: Battlefront III
Jul 23rd - A Look Back at Superman: Doomsday (2007)
NOTE: IF ANYTHING CHANGES I WILL TELL YOU!
Well that's going to do it for this edition of Raiders of The Lost Media. Next time I'll be doing another one of these and it will be yet another video game. What is it? Here's a hint: Flawless Victory! Fatality!
State of The Project (Jun 23rd - Jul 23rd)
Jun 23rd - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review
Jul 2nd - Cinematic Disasters - Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
Jul 5th - A Look Back at Ant-Man (2015)
Jul 7th - Ant-Man and The Wasp Review
Jul 16th - What You Probably Didn't Know About The Terminator (1984)
Jul 19th - Raiders of The Lost Media - Star Wars: Battlefront III
Jul 23rd - A Look Back at Superman: Doomsday (2007)
NOTE: IF ANYTHING CHANGES I WILL TELL YOU!
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