Fire up the rumour mill and grab a generous pinch of salt, because we've got a hum-dinger for you this morning. According to recent reports, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 3 is in very early development.
For those unfamiliar with the series, The Force Unleashed and its sequel were single-player action-adventure games set between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope. Players took on the role of Darth Vader's secret apprentice and were tasked with hunting down and executing any remaining Jedi hiding out in the galaxy. Yes, it was awesome and yes, a revival would be incredible.
Unfortunately, such a revival would be surprising for several reasons. The most obvious is that The Force Unleashed 2 was released way back in 2010, just a few years before Disney acquired the Star Wars license and handed the rights to publish Star Wars video games to Electronic Arts. The fact that The Force Unleashed is a franchise from the LucasArts days probably doesn't sit well with EA, which would likely rather leave its own mark on the IP.
EA also has a franchise that pretty much fills the hole The Force Unleashed left in our hearts. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order might not be exactly the same, but there are enough similarities that I can't imagine for a second EA would put a separate third-person adventure game with lightsaber and Force-based combat on the market. It wouldn't make any sense.
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So, having established how unlikely I think this probably is, let's get into why it might just be possible after all. As spotted by GamesRadar, Disney insider Daniel Richtman reportedly told his Patreon backers that a third game could be on the cards, and is - or was at some stage - actually in development. There's also the fact that The Force Unleashed 2 had an open ending with room for a sequel, and EA would already be safe in the knowledge that people know and love the first two games.
But is that enough? I'm not convinced. Fallen Order did more than well enough and we already know that'll be getting a sequel somewhere down the line. That just doesn't leave any room for The Force Unleashed 3. I would imagine that if such a sequel was ever in development, the bones of it became what we now know to be Fallen Order.
In other words, don't get too excited about seeing The Force Unleashed return any time soon.
Featured Image Credit: LucasArts