Star Wars Battlefront 3 was canceled right before 'the finish line' - says dev

Another installment for arguably the most popular Star Wars spinoff was allegedly nearly ready.

For years, people have been clamoring for Star Wars Battlefront 3 – and it allegedly almost happened before being suddenly canceled.

For clarity’s sake: the story that follows is regarding another Star Wars Battlefront game from developer Free Radical Design, which would’ve been a direct sequel to the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 for PS2, Xbox, and PC that came out in 2005. It has nothing to do with the recent Star Wars Battlefront titles that Electonic Arts released in 2015 and 2017. Yes, it’s all confusing since there are two pairs of games with the same names – forget about the newer series if that helps.

Last week, former Free Radical Design level designer Michael Barclay (who worked on Star Wars Battlefront 3 from 2007 to 2009, according to his LinkedIn page) revealed that the game was a hair from completion before publisher LucasArts canceled the project (thanks, Gamespot).

“I feel like it’s been long enough now to come out and say Star Wars Battlefront 3 was [going to] be legit incredible, and the fact it got cancelled [two] yards from the finish line is an absolute crime,” Barclay said on Twitter. “Gamers don’t know what they were robbed of.”

I feel like it’s been long enough now to come out and say Star Wars Battlefront III was gonnae be legit incredible and the fact it got cancelled 2 yards from the finish line is an absolute crime. Gamers don’t know what they were robbed of. https://t.co/zZUu8JR3iV

— Michael Barclay (@MotleyGrue) April 16, 2023

There wasn’t much promotion for Star Wars Battlefront 3 back in the day, though gameplay footage allegedly leaked many years ago. You can check that out below.

Obviously, Star Wars Battlefront 3 never came out. However, after Disney bought Lucasfilm and its subsidiaries in 2012, the company licensed the franchise to Electonic Arts, which made its pair of Star Wars Battlefront games — confused yet? You’re not alone, trust me.

While the future of Star Wars Battlefront is uncertain, we know that developer Respawn Entertainment is working on three Star Wars games – one of which is Jedi: Survivor, which comes out later this week.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.