It might be hard to imagine for younger fans, but Star Wars games used to be amazing in the early and mid 2000s. Before Star Wars Kinect and The Force Unleashed 2 crash landed in recent years, there were games like Rogue Squadron , Knights of the Old Republic and Battlefront. They were games that weren't just good Star Wars titles, but actually tried to push their respective genres forward. Unfortunately, a lot of projects get cancelled, and Star Wars games are no exception.
There are a million reasons why a game can be shelved, but more often than not, it has to do with studio troubles. While fans were crying out for Star Wars Battlefront 3, developer Free Radical was facing its imminent shutdown. Though, while the studio may have been headed towards closure, that doesn't mean it wasn't working on Battlefront 3.
Obviously, the leaked footage seen here isn't from a final copy of the game; depending on how old this version of the game is, it seems that Free Radical was still a long ways away from finishing Battlefront 3. Based on what's in the video, the game was likely still in testing. The game's textures aren't all present and in some levels, characters didn't move. Of course, some stages were much further along than others, but either way, Battlefront 3 was a long ways off from a public viewing.
Following the huge successes of Star Wars Battlefront and its sequel, Free Radical began development on Battlefront 3. Unfortunately, the cost of Battlefront 3 and the flop that was Haze for the Playstation 3 forced the company into administration. For a long time, it seemed that the studio had closed its doors, but in reality, the studio was bought out and transformed into Crytek UK.
The reformed studio began work on Homefront: The Revolution until Crytek began facing financial problems of its own. The studio was bought and sold (again) to Deep Silver, while any hope of seeing Battlefront 3 in its original form was long gone.
That being said, Battlefront isn't gone forever. DICE, the creators of the Battlefield series, announced a new Star Wars Battlefront during E3 2013. While the new game may not have anything to do with previous entries, according to DICE, it will retain the spirit of the original series.
It may be sad to see what could have been with Star Wars Battlefront 3, but at the very least, players will still get to see a new, next-generation Battlefront game sometime in the future.
