Respawn Entertainment has announced that it has cancelled two games at the studio in order to focus more on Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi.
In a lengthy statement posted on social media, the studio says that the decision to cancel the projects weren’t east and they were “deeply grateful to every teammate affected.”
“As we sharpen our focus for the future, we’ve made the decision to step away from two early-stage incubation projects and make some targeted team adjustments across Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi,” the statement reads. “These decisions aren’t easy, and we are deeply grateful to every teammate affected — their creativity and contributions have helped build Respawn into what it is today.”
Respawn continued: “Looking ahead, our commitment to player-first experiences remains unchanged. Innovation has always been at the core of Respawn’s identity, and it continues to drive how we build the future — from evolving live experiences to crafting new worlds and stories.”
When it games to the new focus, specifically, Respawn says that it will put heavier effort into “not just delivering competitive, innovative seasons — but expanding what Apex can be.” That includes refining the core gameplay and bringing new ideas to upcoming seasons.
They also say that they are “investing in what’s next for the franchise — exploring bold experiences that push the boundaries of competitive play while staying true to the spirit of competition, creativity, and integrity that our community expects.”
For Star Wars, they are planning to “keep building new stories” and said that the next Star Wars Jedi title has a goal to “raise the bar again for storytelling and gameplay”.
Going back to the cancelled games, one is reportedly an unannounced multiplayer FPS game that was actually revealed to be shelved back in March. The other cancelled game, however, remains unknown.
Insider Gaming has reached out to Respawn and EA for more details on how many people were affected by the project cancellations and any possible large-scale layoffs. Should a response be received this story will be updated. According to a new report, however, around 100 people have been impacted.
What do you think of Respawn’s announcement that it has cancelled two games to focus more on Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi? Let us know down below, and join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming forums.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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