Here we go again, guys. Here we go again. This isn’t really going to be a positive video. Just as a heads up, I’m going to try and be optimistic, but honestly, I’m just so annoyed again and devastated at this where Star Wars gaming is at. Like, why are we here again? Why are we having this discussion? I woke up today. Was planning on making other videos. I’m working on working on a bunch of other Star Wars stuff. Open Twitter. Here we go. The news again. Another Star Wars game is cancelled. What other franchise do you know that gets this many cancellations? I don’t think there is one. It’s kind of a joke. There’s so much of this that’s gone on over the past 10, 15 years. The mismanagement. What the heck are they doing? How can you invest so many resources into something and then it just gets completely fumbled and it’s not what necessarily anyone was asking for and here we are again sitting with news like this. I don’t enjoy making these videos. Hey everyone, it’s Andrew. So, the news today comes from Star Wars Hunters, the mobile game which I think has had a very mixed reception since its release. And there’s a bunch to learn about this. So, let me go through what there is and what we know. Just this morning, the Star Wars Hunters website and Twitter accounts tweeted out and posted this article. Dear Hunters, thank you for your incredible support and for being part of the world of Vaspara. After careful consideration, it was very careful. We want to let you know that the final content update for Star Wars Hunters on all platforms will be on April 15th. The game will remain playable until October 1st when the game’s online servers will be shut down. They’re shutting it down. It’s just gone. What are you doing? This game has been in development since I think 2021. It never really had the proper release that it was supposed to until I don’t know, I think it was mid last year. It came out officially. Did fine from what I was kind of seeing. I know I knew it definitely had a community, but it didn’t really scratch the itch I think most Star Wars gamers are hoping to have scratched, which I’m going to say it again is the Battlefront 3 itch. Everyone wants a big multiplayer online shooter tactical game. Why don’t make that? Why make all these smaller games that clearly have issues? And man, I don’t know. I’m just I’m feeling that way. Again, we understand this news may be disappointing and want to assure you that this decision was not made lightly. Of course, it wasn’t. But perhaps the decision shouldn’t have been made all those years ago. And this is harsh, man. But wow. To to even make the game because it’s just one of those like why are we here again? Why are we here again, guys? Your passion and dedication to the game and its community have meant the world to us, and we committed to providing visibility and updates throughout the transition process. The other sad news with this is that I don’t think it ever fully got the release it deserved because Star Wars Hunters was also set to release on PC, which they have now confirmed through Twitter is no longer happening. The game was set to come out on PC sometime this year, and they’ve completely pulled the PC release, saying, “Yeah, we’re not doing that anymore. It’s not worth it, I guess.” They’re just throwing it in the trash can essentially. Clearly, it’s not getting enough players. Clearly, the microtransactions aren’t working properly. But there’s a number of reasons for that, and I can give you them all. It’s a mobile game. Yes, Star Wars Galaxies is still seemingly really profitable. And EA, I think, have made more money on that game than any other Star Wars game they’ve made, which is kind of crazy considering, I think, a lot of people don’t even really like it and doesn’t really get the content updates it deserves. But, it’s full of heroes and characters people want, characters everyone wants to play as. Whereas Star Wars Hunters is not. It’s a bunch of random new characters that don’t really have the same personality, the same nostalgia, same substance that the characters of Star Wars, the prequels, the original trilogy, the sequels, all the surrounding media have. That in itself, going down that road, I think is a risk. Using characters and setting this on far away worlds that no one even really knows is just it’s not really what anyone thought they were going to do. I don’t know, man. Please find below a few important dates regarding this announcement. Season 5 will be extended by 3 weeks. We will rerun events and shop bundles from the season, rank season. The final content update will be released for free and in-game purchases will be disabled across all platforms. So, they’re releasing a bunch of free content. I guess that’s good, but what other choice do they have at this point? This is almost to just say, “Hey, sorry for canceling this. New support. Hunter Tuya will join the battle as part of the final update. Tuya will be available and playable for all users immediately, no cost. We’ll continue to run a final ranked mode leaderboard. And then October 1st, online servers will officially shut down and Star Wars Hunters will no longer be playable beyond this point. That’s their writing. Far out, man. Just far out. Can I get a refund for crystals I’ve already purchased but have not used in-game? So, let’s say you paid real money to buy in-game currency. No, crystal purchases will not be refunded. Okay. Apparently, the reason they’re giving a bit of a grace period in shutting this down is to give people ample time to spend the credits in game that they’ve already bought. The game will remain on stores and available to download until October 1st, after which it will be no more. Oh my. I think all of this is a perfect example of the direction Star Wars gaming has taken perhaps in recent years. Not all of Star Wars gaming, there’s definitely Star Wars games that I enjoy and like, but it it definitely in terms of online Star Wars gaming. It’s just once again such a shame that resources are being spent on things that people maybe don’t even want to be playing or be part of. Star Wars Hunters is not the Star Wars game anyone has asked for and this is now joining the likes of Respawn’s canceled Mandalorian firstperson shooter which was cancelled at the start of last year. Games like Star Wars 1313, Project Rag Tag, a bunch of other titles over the past decade or so that just seemingly never saw the light of day because perhaps they weren’t the right Star Wars game to make. Perhaps the executives are like, “Hey, we don’t think these will make money.” But once again, I’m going to say it. You know what will make money? Battlefront 3, you literally have the Star Wars brand and IP. It is one of the most surely valuable franchises, media, entertainment, popular franchises in the world. Star Wars changed the world when George Lucas made the original Star Wars films back in 70s and 80s. It changed the world. It changed cinema. It changed storytelling. There’s so much. It changed sci-fi. What sci-fi even means? There is so much love for Star Wars still. Even though we’re in this strange kind of period where you’re not really sure what the future outlook looks like, there’s so much potential in this franchise still that it’s such a shame when we have days like today where it’s just like, okay, another negative. They’re canceling more stuff. It probably wasn’t the game anyone hoped they would make, but it’s still a shame that it’s being cancelled. I really think Star Wars can be just like a money printer. Like there is so much opportunity in certain eras and aspects of Star Wars. I don’t care if we’re using the same characters over and over and over again. Give me an Obi-Wan Kenobi game. Give me a Quigon, you know, Mace Wu. All of the prequel era stuff. Give me more Clone Wars stuff. That’s what I’m saying. Battlefront 3. Give me all of those large scale battles. Give me more original trilogy sequels. It’s not only about the setting of it, though. Perhaps it’s the nature of the game as well. An arena shooter. I mean, the thing is though, you look at Marvel and it’s working for Marvel, right? Marvel Rivals is essentially the same thing as Star Wars Hunters in a sense. That’s using all of the Marvel IP characters, the big characters, Iron Man, Thor, they’re all there, right? And look how well that game is performing. Look at what it’s doing in the gaming space right now. It’s filling that void for Marvel fans. We don’t have that void filled right now for Star Wars fans. And the thing is, people are still playing Battlefront 2. People are still downloading Battlefront 2 because it’s the only game that fulfills all of that stuff. Even though it’s old now, it’s an 8-year-old game, but there’s still nothing like it. There’s still no experience that comes close to getting you in the Star Wars galaxy and feeling like you’re immersed in a battle in, you know, playing as a Jedi or a clone trooper or a rebel soldier, trying to take down the Death Star, all of those things. That’s what Battlefront delivers. That’s the Star Wars fantasy fulfillment, and it’s the only game that’s doing it, just like the simulation. I really like that they’re trying to also make more story games such as Jedi Fall in Order, Jedi Survivor, the New Jedi game that’s coming out, Star Wars Outlaws. Even though I know a lot of people had controversial opinions of that game, it’s still, I think, a Star Wars story game. They’re trying to do open world. They’re trying to expand the horizons of what Star Wars gaming could be perhaps, but still setting it in the familiar territory that we know. Perhaps a lot of people will think that’s a misstep. That’s another conversation altogether, which is totally fine. This however is just yeah that’s the feeling. I may have my own opinions of this game. You might have your own opinions of Star Wars Hunters, but a lot of people enjoy the game and seem to be enjoying it. And it’s just sad whenever a community gets shut down. It’s sad because you’re seeing the end of something. You’re seeing the end of an era and the there’s no more opportunity to play it and be part of that experience. It’s literally it’ll be completely destroyed, shut off. I think there are actually certain modes in the game where you can play against bots, but you won’t even be able to download the game from later this year onwards. So, now that I’ve delivered all of that kind of disappointing crap news, I do want to talk about something positive as well, and that is that it’s Star Wars Celebration this year. I will be there in Japan, by the way. So, come say hi if you’re going. There’s going to be a panel for Bit Reactor’s new up andcoming Star Wars strategy game. This is, I think, the next Star Wars game that’s set to be releasing. And Bit Reactor are holding a panel with Respawn, who also helped make this game on April 19th to talk about the turnbased tactics game. People are saying this is supposed to be something like an XCOM/ Empire at War kind of game. And I’m honestly always excited and optimistic about the future of Star Wars gaming. Where’s it headed? What’s next? What are we getting? Will this be a good game? Will it be a memorable game? I really hope so. But I think there’s a lot to look forward to. It feels like a lot of stuff is still years away and hopefully they’re working on a bunch more than we know about. We also recently got news that the Cotor game is still in development. The Cotor remake, they are still making it. It is still on the way. We know we’re getting Jedi 3. We know Amy Henik’s Sky Dance New Media game is in development as well, which is supposed to potentially be an action adventure thirdp person game that takes perhaps some of what was canceled in Project Rag Tag, which was being worked on at Visceral Games way back in the late 2010s. Star Wars Eclipse is currently apparently still in development as well. It’s set to be Quantic Dreams next game that releases, but that looks like it won’t be until 2027 perhaps. But again, the gap for online multiplayer Star Wars gaming is still empty. Battlefront 2 is still what fills that gap. I’m not even sure Battlefront 3 is the game anyone will want to make because it feels like too big a mountain to climb. Making a Battlefront game obviously is ridiculously challenging considering the scope of the game, the scale, the amount of different maps and weapons and heroes and abilities. And it’s it is a huge project. I understand that. But we need something in the online Star Wars gaming space cuz right now we have literally nothing now that Hunters is being cancelled. I feel like what’s been keeping Star Wars games alive recently as well is modding. I’ve been enjoying so many Battlefront 2 mods especially. There’s so many creative things out there, creative projects that modders and just fans are working on that I think is awesome. The fans are what are keeping Star Wars alive right now. Star Wars gaming anyway. The modding community is where it’s at. Even for games like Jedi Fall in Order and Jedi Survivor, there’s so much cool stuff you can play. The Lego games there. There’s communities of modders that are just holding this community together at the moment because the big publishers and the big AAA’s aren’t doing that. So disappointed about Hunters, man. What do you think of this? Another cancelled Star Wars game. If you want to feel better about Star Wars gaming though and where it’s headed, I recommend you watch this video here. Also subscribe and stay bomb basting.