The developer of the Star Wars ‘Ragtag’ video game, which was cancelled back in 2017, believes EA missed out on potentially the ‘best Star Wars game ever’
In an interview with MinnMaxShow on YouTube (below), Zach Mumbach, formerly of Visceral Games, revealed more details about the binned title, which he described as an “amazingly well-crafted” 12-hour, single player campaign experience.
He revealed the game would have have felt like a ‘Star Wars Uncharted’ game, with action set pieces like having to evade the famous AT-ST two-legged walkers from Return of the Jedi, while on foot, among the highlights.
During the interview he said: “You were on foot running from [the AT-ST] and it was trying to hunt you down but you were more agile, slipping through these alleyways, barrelling through and crashing and using all the destruction of [the game engine] Frostbite…”
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He added: “You would have been like ‘oh that’s like Star Wars Uncharted’.” The lead character, Mumbach said would, have been a cross between Robin Hood and Guardian’s of the Galaxy’s Star-Lord. Sounds pretty badass to us.
Ultimately, the game was not to be. EA pulled the plug and shuttered the studio. Mumbach said trouble started when a different leadership team, including ex-Uncharted director Amy Hennig, was brought in to oversee the completion of the game and its journey to market.
“And I’m thinking, this is effing Amy Hennig, we have the chance to make the greatest Star Wars game ever made and a possible Game of the Year contender,” Mumbach said in the interview. “I think we would have made the best Star Wars game ever made. The story and the setup and the characters… [were] set up for success but what we had to execute was going to take a while.”
While he praised Hennig for her creative vision and decision making, it soon became clear that EA had different goals for the game. Mumbach said he lost talent to other projects and some features were cut. Eventually, EA canned the project and the studio, amid a distaste for single-player gaming experiences. Since then, of course, it has gained a taste for them once again with the success of Jedi: Fallen Order.
“At the time, when we got shut down, [EA exec] Patrick Soderlund was even like – what’s the game with ‘Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner’? PUBG? – they even sent out a press release that was like ‘no one cares about single-player any more,” Mumbach (via Eurogamer) added.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
