In the Hoth-like coldness of Star Wars “Wilderness Years,” following Return of the Jedi in 1983 but before The Phantom Menace in 1999, advancements in the story of the galaxy far, far away had to be done in the form of books, comics, and video games. The last gave us some of the best flight simulator and combat flight simulator titles of the era, like TIE Fighter, X-Wing, and most of Rebel Assault. It’s been a long, long time since we’ve gotten a really great shooter in the Star Wars universe, and we very nearly had one, as footage from a 2016 pitch has surfaced (via Kotaku).
Double Damage, the studio that gave us Rebel Galaxy, was responsible for the pitch to EA, and their basic goal was to take the X-Wing model and update it for modern gaming sensibilities, like pilot aids and control modifications to suit control pads, as well as the much-needed ability to save your progress and not be forced to redo an hour-long mission if you blow up at the finish line.
“It was a long-shot,” Double Damage cofounder Travis Baldree told Kotaku, “and we had near-nil hopes that it would be seriously considered, but we probably did it to please ourselves rather than out of any hope that it would get greenlit.” It took the team 2-3 weeks to put the video pitch together, using assets from various sources (you’ll certainly recognize some Rebel Galaxy in there). Baldree said EA was gracious in listening to the pitch, but that “it never came to anything, and we moved on.”
With all of the backlash heaped at EA surrounding the release of Battlefront II, the company might secretly be regretting not giving the go-ahead to a simple, crowd-pleasing space shooter, hearkening back to the classic early-’90s titles. From the pitch, it looks like it could have been a pretty fun game, but alas, it’s become lost to the coulda-been games that have passed into Star Wars legend.
Images: Travis Baldree
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
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