Star Wars Shooters Can’t Depend on Collaborations Like Destiny 2 and Fortnite Indefinitely

Sure! Here’s a rewritten version of the article:

—

Okay, so, Star Wars games, right? They’ve kinda been around forever—like, since the video game medium itself was still in its “baby steps” phase. Picture this: it’s the late ’70s, disco’s still a thing (crazy, right?), and boom—George Lucas’s galaxy far, far away starts getting squeezed onto video game screens. First, they were pretty basic, you know? Like, you had this Atari 2600 game that was nothing but a side-scrolling shooter. But oh man, things sure got wild later on. Suddenly, you got RPGs, platformers, action-adventure, even some RTS stuff. All thanks to a bunch of different devs throwing their hat in the ring.

Anyway (geez, I’m all over the place), let’s fast forward a bit to the late ’90s, early 2000s. That was the golden age for Star Wars shooters—third-person, first-person, you name it. And yeah, some of the top names in gaming back then, like the fallen giant Pandemic Studios, were just churning out hit after hit. Star Wars: Battlefront 2004? That game was practically a rite of passage during the sixth console generation. Tons of love for it. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the legendary single-player stuff like Republic Commando or Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. Those titles just laid down the law on what a licensed shooter game needed to be.

Now, fast forward again, like to the last decade—or has it been longer? Where was I? Oh right, shooter games. So, after 2013, EA got its mitts on those exclusive Star Wars rights, and suddenly, it’s like someone poured water on the whole shindig. Fewer console games, for sure. They did put out a couple Battlefront reboots, but honestly, they came with a side of controversy that was hard to swallow. The whole loot box debacle, you know? Now, folks outside of EA can make Star Wars games again, but uh, where are the big shooters? I don’t see them.

And then, bam! While actual Star Wars shooters kind of cooled off, Fortnite and Destiny 2 stepped in with some hefty collabs. Funny how life’s like, “Okay, no problem, let’s sprinkle some Star Wars into the top shooters anyway.” The Fortnite thing this year? Galactic Battle season, X-Wings, TIE Fighters—all in there. And Destiny 2 isn’t just sitting on its hands either. They’ve got Destiny 2: Renegades coming in hot with some Star Wars flair. Yeah, Bungie’s already been dabbling with those Stormtrooper skins earlier this year, and I mean, it’s not half bad.

But this whole thing kinda proves that people still want that Star Wars shooter fix. Lucasfilm and Disney keep slapping Star Wars onto Fortnite, Destiny 2, and it’s like, yeah, there’s definitely a hungry crowd out there. Sure, they’re keeping the galaxy alive this way, but personally? I think they shouldn’t just lean on collabs. Give some other devs a shot at making bonafide, single-player or otherwise, Star Wars shooters. You know, let them take a swing. It’s what we need, really.

Phew, and there you have it. Thoughts?