Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has been delayed by six weeks. In a tweet, developer Respawn Entertainment confirmed that the highly-anticipated galaxy-spawning adventure, originally set to drop on March 17, will now release on April 28. The studio affirmed that development on the game’s core content was indeed “complete,” and that the additional time would be used for further optimisation to provide a bug-free experience. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor brings back Cameron Monaghan in the lead role of Cal Kestis, now a powerful Jedi Knight, and is set five years after the events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
“For the last three years, the Jedi team here at Respawn has poured its collective heart and soul into Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and we are proud to say the next chapter in the tale of Cal Kestis is content complete,” the open letter reads. “We are now focused entirely on the final stage: bug fixes to enhance performance, stability, polish, and most importantly, the player experience.” While this might seem like a bummer for fans, infamous cases such as Cyberpunk 2077’s disastrous launch, which was littered with game-breaking glitches, go on to show how important delays and final polishing could be for any title. More recently, studio Fatshark pushed back its latest Warhammer 40,000: Darktide on Xbox Series S/X consoles indefinitely to bring fixes to the existing PC version first.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor retains many gameplay elements from its predecessor — specifically, the souls-like combat and progression system, as you continue Kestis’ journey and rebellion against an oppressive Empire. Stig Asmussen, director of the title, previously confirmed that Kestis will have five “fully realised” stances, with their use cases entirely dependent on the enemy types you face. His comment to GameInformer suggest that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor won’t do much in terms of hand-holding and will instead task players with figuring out what works and what doesn’t by themselves. The new stances include a lightweight dual-blade option, in addition to a new heavy stance that feels similar to Kylo Ren’s crossguard lightsaber style. Asmussen described the latter as “beefy,” adding that one needs to be very mindful of when they attack since the “timing windows are longer with the blade.”
As seen in the announcement poster, Kestis’ trusty and adorable droid BD-1 returns, and additional help arrives in the form of a new character, Bode Akuna, who is described as an AI that will aid the protagonist in both combat and traversal. “He and Cal form a special bond. It’s almost like they’re brothers. And they’re not exactly the same, but they really do complement each other,” Asmussen said in the interview. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order adds more options for exploration and traversal by adding an ascension cable that helps with climbing on rocky surfaces. This time around, Kestis can also tame and ride wild beasts.
In addition to announcing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s delay, publisher EA outright cancelled Apex Legends Mobile and halted work on the untitled Battlefield mobile game. The former will end its services on May 2, just a couple of weeks before celebrating its one-year anniversary.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor now releases April 28 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.
