A new rumor about Lucasfilm Games and Quantic Dream’s Star Wars Eclipse is doing the rounds, suggesting that the game will feature a female protagonist described as “fanatical” about her alien war-mongering culture.
As reported on the Sacred Symbols podcast — and transcribed by VGC — video game journalist Colin Moriarty made several claims about Star Wars Eclipse, the first being rather damning, asserting, “This game, as far as I can tell, is not even really in production yet.”
Announced during 2021’s Game Awards, that would mean ten months of development — or rather not — have been conducted so far. If we also consider an insider report from early March of this year, who claimed the upcoming title had been in development for 18 months at the time, this figure grows to almost 26 months as of November.
The rest of the podcast reportedly features discussion about the game’s story, which is co-written by Quantic Dream veterans David Cage and Adam Williams. Both had worked on Detroit: Become Human, while Cage also worked on Beyond: Two Souls, Heavy Rain, and Omikron: The Nomad Soul.
Insider sources had revealed the game would not only feature a female protagonist but that she would also be of an alien race new to the Star Wars universe.
“Materials seen by this podcast describe a so-called Project S, with a character named Sarah as the lead. Sarah is described as an athletic 30-something and is a member of a human-like race. This race is at the lead of some sort of empire called The Zaraan, a race not seen in Star Wars before,” Moriarty noted.
“It prides itself on political and military aggression and similar to what you find elsewhere in Star Wars there’s little differentiation between males and females when it comes to roles and responsibilities,” he continued.
Moriarty added, “But, there’s an interesting wrinkle, when Zaraan marries, their nuptials carry interesting military implications as they become one governing unit that works together.”
This is where it appears Sarah’s character arc in Star Wars Eclipse begins. “This is a problem, because Sarah, a fanatical true believer in the violence and criminality regularly demonstrated by her empire, is married to a character named Xendo, who is a far softer touch. Part of the game seems to revolve around these two characters and their relationship.”
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It’s not hard to imagine how Sarah learning to reject the war-mongering nature she had been brought up has parallels to the Galactic Empire or the Dark Side of the Force, for example. Even so, VGC points out that it’s unclear if this provisionally named “Project S” is what the game’s final plot will use.
Then again, the reveal trailer did show humanoid aliens performing what could be deemed ritualistic and intimidating drumming, and an impressive army. Though one wonders if “Sarah” is a placeholder for a more exotic, alien name.
Reports of a troubled development had done the rounds in the past. In December of last year, fans pushed the #BlackoutStarWarsEclipse hashtag due to Quantic Dream’s allegations of fostering a hostile work environment, followed by reports that seemingly indicated the studio was struggling to attract developer talent.
Citing claims from an anonymous former Quantic Dream developer, the company was having issue with their engine being unable to handle the “massive multiplanetary open world” they are aiming for. The alleged expectation was the game would not launch until the end of the decade.
Quantic Dream would later deny the game had been delayed, rather specifically noting “Star Wars Eclipse has not been delayed because Quantic Dream never announced or promised a launch window for the title.”
Earlier this year, Chinese Internet technology company NetEase (co-developers of Diablo Immortal) were rumored to be interested in both acquiring and helping Quantic Dream “bring Star Wars Eclipse to life.” Sources at the time claimed, however, that the acquisition was expected to be announced this past summer.
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