Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

• 1. Origins Of A Star Wars Game

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  Stig Asmussen joined Respawn Entertainment in 2014 after leaving Sony's Santa Monica Studio. He led a second development team while the first group worked on Titanfall games. Electronic Arts initially discussed making a Star Wars game with Respawn, but that plan did not move forward. The studio began developing an original title unrelated to the franchise instead. EA felt the action elements could work well as a Star Wars project and convinced Lucasfilm to authorize the shift. Lucasfilm was protective of Jedi characters as sacred parts of the franchise. They encouraged Respawn to create a shooter about smugglers or bounty hunters rather than Jedi. Asmussen pushed back with his vision for lightsaber combat. He convinced Lucasfilm to focus on a story featuring Jedi warriors. The visual style drew heavy inspiration from Rogue One and Solo films. The team also took cues from Star Wars Rebels which shared the same time period.

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• 2. Crafting Cal And His Companions

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  Aaron Contreras led the writing team alongside Chris Avellone and writers experienced with Clone Wars and Rebels series. The narrative spans five years after Revenge of the Sith before A New Hope begins. Level designer Jeff Magers described this era as perfect for a video game hero. It offered a flickering candle of light in a very dark place. Cameron Monaghan provided voice and motion capture for protagonist Cal Kestis. The creative team chose a human male protagonist to differentiate him from Rey in the sequel trilogy. Cal's original name was Boone, inspired by Western genre tropes. He was envisioned as untrusting and laconic. Elizabeth Grullon voiced the Second Sister with an improvised British accent during recording sessions. She felt Trilla Suduri had strong intuition for that dialect when reading the script. BD-1 took two years to design and became Cal's best friend. Respawn compared their bond to Charlie Brown and Snoopy. The droid initially had a flying bolster but settled on a bipedal design. Ben Burtt created its beeping sounds instead of dialogue lines. Early designs resembled BB-8 until The Force Awakens trailer changed their approach.

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• 3. Metroidvania Design Philosophy

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  Respawn wanted players to explore without excessive guidance. They drew inspiration from Metroid Prime where frequent upgrades drive progression. The Metroidvania structure allowed free exploration while delivering handcrafted moments. Re-traversal served as a core design pillar throughout development. Force powers acted as lock-and-key mechanisms to solve puzzles or unlock secret areas. The game lacks a fast travel system to encourage thorough exploration. Players find shortcuts when unable to skip critical paths. Combat focused on precision and efficiency rather than combo-based button mashing. Developers studied opponent move sets to react with different tactics and timing. Cal could kill stormtroopers in one hit using his lightsaber. Some enemies possessed natural armor or block meters to increase difficulty. The team sought balance between challenging gameplay and accessibility. They looked at games by FromSoftware like Bloodborne and Dark Souls for reference. Difficulty modes adjusted enemy aggression, parry timing, and health loss. Even the hardest mode ensured Cal's weapons delivered lethal damage. Lucasfilm agreed no human dismemberment would appear since it rarely occurred in films.

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• 4. Recording At Abbey Road Studios

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  Gordy Haab and Stephen Barton composed the score together. Haab previously worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic and Battlefront titles. Barton collaborated on Titanfall, Uncharted, and Apex Legends projects. Recording sessions took place at Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra. The Bach Choir of London also participated in the sessions. Audio director Nick Laviers designed music to evoke original trilogy vibes. He aimed for futuristic sounds mixed with 1970s warm technology vibes. Haab described the overall score as dark with gothic horror elements. Creating Cal's theme proved challenging due to character development needs. Haab intentionally avoided listening to established Star Wars music to create something new. A soundtrack album released the 21st of August 2020 spans over three hours. It was produced by composers Barton and Haab alongside Nick Laviers and Steve Schnur. Mongolian folk metal band The Hu wrote Sugaan Essena for the game. Lyrics were written in Mongolian then translated into a fictional Star Wars language.

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• 5. Launch And Technical Struggles

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  Electronic Arts revealed the project in May 2016 as a third-person action-adventure title. EA announced the game at E3 2018 before showcasing a fifteen-minute demo at E3 2019. Development completed the 18th of October 2019 when Respawn declared gold status. Release occurred the 15th of November 2019 across PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One platforms. This timing placed it one month before Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker theater debut. The launch marked EA's return to Steam eight years after exclusive Origin platform usage. Two editions existed including Standard and Deluxe versions. The Deluxe Edition featured BD-1 skins, Stinger Mantis cosmetics, and a digital artbook. An orange lightsaber crystal pre-order bonus later became available to all players. Critics criticized the abundance of software bugs at initial release. Respawn considered delaying the title further but chose holiday season release instead. A free update improved performance on the 12th of January 2021 for backward compatibility. Native versions launched the 11th of June 2021 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S systems. These updates added higher resolution support and vastly improved loading times.

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• 6. Critical Acclaim And Sales Figures

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  Review aggregator Metacritic recorded generally favorable reviews from critics. Many praised the self-contained single-player experience combining distinct genre systems. Subpar technical performance drew significant criticism alongside praise. Andrew Reiner called exploration the most dynamic quality despite some gamey locations. Hornshaw noted each planet was beautifully realized with rewards for off-path discovery. Ben Tyrer found locations intriguing compared favorably to Tomb Raider puzzles. Stepleton applauded attention to detail while noting Wookiee designs were offensive. Brad Shoemaker disliked lack of fast travel making early exploration feel like a chore. Tom Senior described massive dungeons mixing gorgeous exteriors with atmospheric Imperial bases. Combat received widespread acclaim for impactful swings and intense encounters. Phil Hornshaw likened difficulty levels to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. He enjoyed how enemies could easily defeat players yet remained rewarding. Cal Kestis proved well-liked by critics along with supporting cast members. Grubb praised writing but felt story followed typical light versus dark tropes. Kat Bailey noted breakneck pacing while applauding dark moments. Japan saw 26,761 units sold within first week on PlayStation 4. UK ranked second best-selling retail game behind Pokémon Sword and Shield. US sales placed it sixth best-selling title of 2020 after two months. Electronic Arts confirmed fastest digital launch for any Star Wars game in first two weeks. Over ten million units sold by end of March 2020 exceeded expectations.

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• 7. Awards And Industry Recognition

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  The Game Critics Awards honored Best Console Game and Best Action Adventure titles. Titanium Awards recognized Game of the Year alongside Best Game Design. New York Game Awards granted Great White Way Award for Best Acting to Debra Wilson. Guild of Music Supervisors awarded Best Music Supervision in Video Games. The 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards named Adventure Game of the Year plus Outstanding Character Achievement for Greez. NAVGTR Awards covered Art Direction Fantasy, Direction Cinema, and Performance Drama categories. Pégases Awards selected Best International Game. SXSW Gaming Awards chose Video Game of the Year plus Excellence in Gameplay and SFX. British Academy Games Awards recognized Audio Achievement and Narrative excellence. G.A.N.G. Awards won Audio of the Year plus Music of the Year. ASCAP Composers Choice Awards gave Video Game Score of the Year. The Game Awards nominated Best Action/Adventure Game while Society of Composers & Lyricists honored Original Score. Respawn confirmed sequel development January 2022 with Stig Asmussen returning as director. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor released April 2023 across PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S platforms. A tie-in novel titled Battle Scars bridged events between games on the 7th of March 2023.

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