'Star Wars: Uprising' Game Sets Up Events Before 'The Force Awakens'
By Graeme McMillan
Before the era between Return of the Jedi and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens is explored in novels and comic books, fans will get to play in the aftermath of the fall of the Empire for themselves. Kabam’s newly announced Star Wars: Uprising mobile game puts players in the thick of it on some very familiar planets.
Set in the immediate aftermath of the events depicted in Return of the Jedi, the new game takes place in the Anoat Sector, which contains both Hoth and Cloud City from The Empire Strikes Back, and allows players to join the rebellion and infiltrate one of the last strongholds of the Empire following the death of the Emperor — not that the Stormtroopers on the ground are aware of that fact just yet.
“The Anoat Sector is controlled by a man who has blocked transmissions from the Empire,” Aaron Loeb, senior VP of San Francisco-based Kabam, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “He’s trying to hide the fact that the Emperor has died from the sector, so that he can maintain control.”
The new game is the culmination of a partnership with Lucasfilm that was one of Loeb’s ambitions when he joined Kabam last year. He initially approached the company looking to collaborate on a Star Wars mobile game and impressed them enough to have the game included in the lead-up to this holiday season’s relaunch of the movie franchise. Star Wars: Uprising, he teased, not only takes place in the same time period as the already-announced Star Wars: Aftermath novel and Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens — Shattered Empire comic book series, but also introduces new characters and locations that will now become part of Star Wars canon.
The game was created by a rogue’s gallery of Star Wars talent, including Daniel Erickson, the former creative director of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Danny Keller, a storyboard artist and director nominated for an Emmy for his work on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.
Star Wars: Uprising is currently open for preregistration, with the game itself launching beta testing in select territories today ahead of a wider release later this year. Below, enjoy some of the concept art for the game.
