Remember that Darth Maul Star Wars game that was cancelled a few years back? Of course you do, you’re still able to remember the salty tears dripping down your cheek. Well you can wipe away any that still remain: it looks like we might see the ugly bugger get his starring role after all.
Talking as part of a Reddit AMA, Dan Borth of Red Fly Studios revealed some interesting news that will surely get the Force-sensitive among us excited.
“BTW we are currently working on a full next gen demo of all things Maul to show to the powers that be. It’s been a lot of work on our off time.”
So this would mean that they’re compiling a bunch of things to take to Disney and EA. Whatever Star Wars game is made, EA must be the publisher as it has signed a decade-long exclusivity deal. Oh, and it’s also using the Unreal 4 Engine. Imagine that for a moment and try not to cry tears of joy. It’s also a next-gen demo, so we assume that means PS4/Xbox One and PC. Unless these guys are already preparing for the PS5/Xbox Two…
As for when the original pitch for the Darth Maul Star Wars game takes place, it’s quite interesting. According to the developers, Darth Maul’s story would begin with him as a child and then follow him, presumably, up until his demise at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi. [Correction: According to the tweets and messages we’ve received, we’re not as clued up with the expanded Star Wars universe as our readers. According to comic books and novels, Darth Maul survived his encounter with the young Obi-Wan.]
“Young Maul age 9 or 11 to right before Episode 1. We wanted to show what he went through to become a Sith. Showcase the torture the Emperor put him through. Show how you as the player would have made the same mistakes and ended up a Sith.”
“We wanted to tell a story about a sweet boy who became a monster and that had to be fairly linear.”
It’s a nice idea and could bring out some deep, dark story that Disney will probably never allow on the big-screen. Still, this project needs to go through Disney first, so it’s best not to get one’s hopes up too high just yet. Thankfully George Lucas wouldn’t be involved this time around, something the developers seem a bit happy with as Dan Borth suggests that Lucas’ demands for how the story should lie within the official cannon were not well received by the studio.
“We didn’t meet Lucas for a while. I don’t know to what extent all the decisions that led to some of the Lucas Art’s failures were his. He employed a lot of powerful people and they were very, very risk adverse. Ultimately the final story Lucas wanted was “challenging” to say the least.”
Borth also gives some insight into how the game originally played as well as his reaction when the game was canned.
“Our game was very story driven and definitely not open world. It was a clear accept mission infiltration/destroy target type of game.”
“I cried, put my hand through a wall and laid 40 plus people off – then went to get shitfaced.”
Ouch. That must have hurt. Still, perhaps the game will finally see the light of day? If Disney accepts the premise, it’s down to EA to decide whether the game will be developed by Red Fly. It’s just as likely that EA would want one of its own internal studios to work on the game. Nothing is concrete as of yet, but we’ll keep you updated when more information becomes available.
Red Fly Studios previously worked on the Wii port of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Thor: God of Thunder, and a few other lesser-known games.
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