Star Wars: Battlefront III
Encyclopedia
Star Wars: Battlefront III was to have been the third video game in the Star Wars: Battlefront series
. Although Lucasarts has never officially announced or commented on the game, it was initially developed by Free Radical Design
. After the contract was taken from Free Radical it was rumored to be developed by Rebellion Developments
.
made an unconfirmed claim that Free Radical Design was developing the game. In June 2008, Kotaku
allegedly received information from a former LucasArts employee that Star Wars: Battlefront III was in the creation process. On October 2, Activision Blizzard
filed a classification with the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification listing Star Wars: Battlefront III for the Nintendo DS with a PG rating
(E10+ equivalent) for mild animated violence. Also that month, Free Radical Design announced that they lost the rights to develop Star Wars: Battlefront III; the game at that point had been in development for two years. On December 28, Star Wars character renders bearing a Battlefront III watermark surfaced from a laid-off Free Radical employee.
On January 15, 2009, gameplay footage was leaked from a November 2008 Free Radical in-house showing of Battlefront III footage. The footage was pulled from IGN
after LucasArts demanded its removal. Shortly thereafter, a former Free Radical Design employee said some of the technology Free Radical developed for the game, specifically the contiguous game environment from planet surface into space, "is dying with us". In March 2009, a Pandemic Studios
spokesperson refuted speculation that Pandemic had taken over the project, saying "the title seems to be up in the air." Later rumors suggested Rebellion Developments had assumed development of Battlefront III. After this, Rebellion Developments announced Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
. On May 14, 2010, Battlefront III lobbies were found on GameSpy
, leading to speculation that the game would be announced at E3. However, the game was not revealed at that time.
Star Wars: Battlefront (series)
The Star Wars: Battlefront series is a series of first-person/third-person shooter video games based on the Star Wars films by George Lucas. The game-play is very similar to Digital Illusion's/EA's Battlefield series. The series has installments available on the PC, Macintosh, Xbox, PlayStation 2,...
. Although Lucasarts has never officially announced or commented on the game, it was initially developed by Free Radical Design
Free Radical Design
Crytek UK, formerly known as Free Radical Design, is a video game developer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, probably best known for Second Sight and the TimeSplitters series. After going into financial administration, it was announced on February 4 2009 that the studio had been acquired by...
. After the contract was taken from Free Radical it was rumored to be developed by Rebellion Developments
Rebellion Developments
Rebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
.
Development
On September 29, 2006, Computer and Video GamesComputer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
made an unconfirmed claim that Free Radical Design was developing the game. In June 2008, Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
allegedly received information from a former LucasArts employee that Star Wars: Battlefront III was in the creation process. On October 2, Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., formerly Activision, Inc. is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, announced on December 2, 2007, in a...
filed a classification with the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification listing Star Wars: Battlefront III for the Nintendo DS with a PG rating
Video game content rating system
A video game content rating system is a system used for the classification of video games into suitability-related groups. Most of these systems are associated with and/or sponsored by a government, and are sometimes part of the local motion picture rating system...
(E10+ equivalent) for mild animated violence. Also that month, Free Radical Design announced that they lost the rights to develop Star Wars: Battlefront III; the game at that point had been in development for two years. On December 28, Star Wars character renders bearing a Battlefront III watermark surfaced from a laid-off Free Radical employee.
On January 15, 2009, gameplay footage was leaked from a November 2008 Free Radical in-house showing of Battlefront III footage. The footage was pulled from IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
after LucasArts demanded its removal. Shortly thereafter, a former Free Radical Design employee said some of the technology Free Radical developed for the game, specifically the contiguous game environment from planet surface into space, "is dying with us". In March 2009, a Pandemic Studios
Pandemic Studios
Pandemic Studios was founded as an independent developer in 1998, it became an Electronic Arts-owned developer from 2007 to 2009, when it was officially closed. It was an Australian and American video game developer with offices in Brisbane, Australia and Los Angeles, California...
spokesperson refuted speculation that Pandemic had taken over the project, saying "the title seems to be up in the air." Later rumors suggested Rebellion Developments had assumed development of Battlefront III. After this, Rebellion Developments announced Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron is a spin-off from the Star Wars Battlefront series released November 3, 2009 on the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. It has been called the sequel to Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron.-Plot:...
. On May 14, 2010, Battlefront III lobbies were found on GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
, leading to speculation that the game would be announced at E3. However, the game was not revealed at that time.