Bit Reactor and Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars strategy game will finally be revealed next month, more than two years since EA first announced it. The official Star Wars website confrimed that the currently untitled Star Wars game will be revealed during Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025, which runs from April 18th through April 20th.
The game will be shown off during the "Bit Reactor Developer Panel featuring Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games" which is scheduled for Saturday, April 19th from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. live on the Galaxy Stage.
"Join Bit Reactor, along with Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games, for a first look at a new Star Wars turn-based tactics game," the panel description teases.
The Star Wars strategy game was first announced back in 2022, but there's been litlte update since then. The game is being developed by Bit Reactor, a studio comprised of industry veterans that formed when the game was initially announced, with Respawn Entertainment producting. Respected industry veteran Greg Foertsch, the art director for acclaimed strategy games XCOM 2 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown, is heading the project withHector Antunez as lead animator.
While this will be Bit Reactor's first major release, the studio itself is comprised of developers who have worked on some of the industry's biggest titles, including XCOM, Civilization, Gears of War, and Elders Scrolls Online.
It's unclear how in-depth this reveal will be but we can probably expect at least a reveal cinematic trailer and perhaps some gameplay footage with top-level details. Maybe we'll also get a release window and platform details, although it's rumored to be coming to Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC.
Talking about the decision to bring Star Wars to the tactics strategy space, Foertschd told PC gamer last year: "I think [tactical strategy], it's a space that honestly has the most room of any genre to grow, through immersion and storytelling and visual presentation and pacing. It's got a lot of space to innovate in. And so for us, those are kind of the things we focus on. And I think we've made a few games in the past that have displayed those things that are just like tips of icebergs in a lot of cases."
In the same interview, Foertsch teased that the game will offer a cinematic experience, though not at the sacrifice of strategy gameplay.
"I think Hector [Antunez, lead animator] and I have a little bit of an axe to grind in general with the genre. There's this idea that depth costs you elegance," Foertsch added. "Like, oh, if it looks prettier, if it's immersive, if it's got a good story, well, something else got compromised. I say no, not really. I think that you can have both. I don't think that complexity equals depth. And I think that that's really what we're focused on. Differentiating that nuance between those two things."
Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 kicks off on April 18th with the Bit Reactor panel scheduled for April 19th. We'll be sure to update you with anything we learn about the game.