You know, for some reason I bet LucasArts executives must be laughing away at the Internet's obsession with uncovering the mythical Star Wars Battlefront III. And then when they eventually do announce the game's to-be-released version, most of the hype will have been done for them. But until then, the hunt for clues and news scraps continues.
In a new development, fan site StarWarsBattlefront3.net wrote to and received a response from director/producer Chris Marazzo -- the casting director mentioned a few weeks back, who says one of his "most recent" projects was for "Star Wars Battlefront 3 with LucasArts." To be quite honest, his explanation is very... interesting. Someone in the film industry with his resume isn't likely to up and break (what would be considered a massive) NDA on a personal site like that. SWBF3.net simply inquired about his listed projects, Battlefront III included, to which the director responded,"The Original Title was Battlefront 3 but it evolved into Star Wars Empire at War: Forces of Corruption ... However Battlefront 3 is also in development. It was by far the Most Fun and Coolest Casting I ever worked on."
Oh boy; I bet he's wondering why his site traffic exploded. Though, that sounds like something a person who might not be current with industry situations would say. But then, we can't know for certain. Did he just say something he wasn't supposed to?
More after the jump...
Free Radical's version of BF3 had been in development roughly 18 months when it was canned in late 2008, and Forces of Corruption -- an expansion to the Empire at War RTS -- was released in late 2006, a project which Marazzo was casting director on. I can't for the life of me see LucasArts putting the trademarked Battlefront brand, even temporarily, on a completely different series. There's also the fact that Rebellion's recently released PSP/DS title, Battlefront: Elite Squadron, was often referred to as "Battlefront 3." More than a few employee resumes have revealed as much. Huh.
Marazzo does say the game is "also in development," however it's unclear as to when the note on his site was made. It could very well have been in development...at the time. Over two years ago. He also allegedly said he might dig up some storyboards by the end of the week, which would be curious to see. We have reached out to both LucasArts and Mr. Marazzo for any further information, and will update you if we hear back.
Additionally his weekend -- in the hours to kill before LucasArts revealed The Force Unleashed II -- a few sites found a newly listed product page on the Canadian GameStop site, listing Battlefront III on PC, Xbox 360, PS2 and PS3, for a mid-2010 release. Before you jump for joy, remember that back in July of 2008, Amazon also had listings for the alleged game. Listings that were eventually debunked. Communications with corporate employees were reportedly made, which resulted in "confirmations" that the listing was indeed genuine, and that EA and DICE were handling the project. Speculation then was that LucasArts had moved BF3 (a first and third-person shooter) to the Swedish Battlefield studio, after both Free Radical and Rebellion's versions sank. But GameStop are rarely, if ever reliable about unannounced things, and as it turns out, this is nothing more than a wild rumor. GameStop pulled the listings, and developer DICE responded on their forums saying "We are not working on any Star Wars games." So ends another detour on the journey to Battlefront III paradise.
Lastly, the portfolio website of Jospeh Woo, former senior animator at Free Radical and CrytekUK, plays host to a new animation reel full of work done for LucasArts' Star Wars Battlefront III. Or, as we learned recently, what we could assume to be work done on the project at the time. Woo says that during his time at the developer, he was responsible for single-player story campaign animation setup, 3D character animation, cut-scene animation setup, cut-scene camera setup, vehicle setup & rigging, and props setup & rigging on "Star Wars - Battlefront III [PS3/360/Wii]." All of which are given some facetime in the short clip. Have a peek below; you'll see some AT-ATs, space flight, Jedi/Sith action, and more. It's not nearly as impressive as that actual leaked gameplay, but what do you expect?
I have this nagging suspicion that LucasArts are just biding their time (and focusing on next year's Force Unleashed sequel) until they can shock us with the announcement we all want. Maybe at E3 2010. One thing is for sure, though, and that is the Battlefront III news trail doesn't appear to have an end in sight.
TrackBack URI for this entry
