We all knew it existed, LucasArts staffers confirmed it; hell, even Amazon tipped us off months back. But for all the signs, developer Free Radical never officially announced that they had been working on the long-awaited Star Wars Battlefront III.
Last week when news broke that the studio had effectively shut down and gone into administration (and is now up for sale), rumors popped up that the third entry in the Star Wars series had been quietly shifted to another studio: Rebellion. Whether nor not that is what actually has happened...well, we'll have to wait and see in 2009. I would not bet against it, though. What is known now, however, is that Free Radical were working on Battlefront III - in some capacity - since 2007, and thanks to a former employee, we've got tons of in-game renders to prove it.
Richard Smith, a 3D charatcer artist for Free Radical, updated his personal blog recently to include a handful of in-game and in-engine character renders of the rumored title, and boy are they impressive for what they are. Sure, some of the likenesses are a bit...off, but you have to take them for what they are: early renders done during pre-production on game nearly two years ago. If this is the stuff that has been handed off to another studio and is on tap for release in the next 18 months, think of the improvements. Current-gen Battlefront? Yes, please!
Hit the jump.
