Respawn Entertainment's third—and final—Star Wars Jedi game still doesn't have a release date, but a newly surfaced rumour may have finally shed some light on what fans can expect from Cal Kestis' next adventure.
As we first revealed on SFFGazette.com, during a recent episode of the Insider Gaming podcast, the discussion turned to the major gaming presentations taking place this week, including Summer Game Fest, the Xbox Games Showcase, and last night's PlayStation State of Play.
While discussing potential surprises, Insider Gaming's Mike Straw started sharing his take that fans shouldn't expect to see Star Wars Eclipse, with sources suggesting the long-delayed project, set during the largely abandoned High Republic era, remains stuck in development hell.
Amid speculation that a Star Wars Jedi 3 reveal could head our way at December's The Game Awards, he mentioned the possibility of us getting a glimpse at the game in the coming week (there was nothing from PlayStation, unfortunately). That prompted Gaming Editor-in-Chief Tom Henderson to share what he's heard about the threequel.
"I mean, this was like a year ago or whatever, but I heard that like Cal was going to be older in the game, so I don't know if they're doing like a little time jump or something," he teased, with Henderson joking that it won't be significant enough for us to see the Jedi Knight so old that "he uses his Lightsaber as walking stick."
For context, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order takes place in 15 BBY, while Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is set in 9 BBY. Cal was approximately 18 years old during the events of the first game and around 23 in the sequel.
Henderson's comments have led to speculation about the next chapter potentially featuring a much larger time skip than the five-year gap separating the first two games. That would place it closer to—or even beyond—the events of A New Hope.
Recent comments from Lucasfilm also seem to support the idea that Cal Kestis remains an important part of the franchise's future. Just last week, the company indicated that more stories featuring the fan-favourite Jedi are on the way, though specific details remain under wraps for now.
"'Never say never. We've got his lightsaber in the park. We've got more Cal stories coming,'" a Disney rep recently said, hinting that there are plans for the character beyond just the games he appears in.
Whether Henderson's information ultimately proves accurate remains to be seen. However, if Respawn is planning a sizeable jump forward in the timeline, Star Wars Jedi 3 could offer fans a vastly different version of Cal Kestis when the trilogy reaches its conclusion.
Back to Star Wars Eclipse for a moment, and we also have some possible insights into how the game is shaping up despite apparent creative issues behind the scenes...