Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga release date, trailers, news and gameplay

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is the latest game in TT Games' Lego Star Wars franchise and, after a few delays, we're hoping to see it release in early 2022.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will be the first Lego Star Wars game since 2016's The Force Awakens, and looks set to be the most ambitious addition to the series yet, covering all nine of the core Star Wars movies while giving players access to hundreds of playable characters from every era of the saga. It'll be possible for players to visit many iconic settings as they play through the movies “in any order they choose” to “create their own unique journey through the galaxy.” 

This will be music to the ears of any long-term fan, as well as good news for any Star Wars newcomers. Especially those who might have only recently found their way to the galaxy far, far away through the new The Book of Boba Fett or The Mandalorian TV series on Disney+.

Now that we're finally in its release year, we’re hoping to see a more definite release date soon but, while we wait, here’s everything you need to know about Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga trailer still showing Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian in the foreground

(Image credit: Travellers Tales / Lego / Disney)

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – what you need to know

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga release date

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has had a difficult development. After missing an October 2020 release window, the game tried to hit a ‘Spring 2021’ launch date and missed that too. 

After an announcement at Gamescom 2021, we now know that Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga's release date is set for 'Spring 2022'. A more exact date than that hasn't been announced yet but we're hoping that will change soon. Especially considering we're now in the supposed launch year. 

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga trailer still showing an X-Wing

(Image credit: Travellers Tales / Lego / Disney)

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga trailers

A new gameplay trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker dropped during Gamescom 2021's Opening Night Live, giving us a tantalizing look at the game in action. Check it out below.

Prior to that Gamescom trailer, we had, of course, already seen a little bit from the game. Way back in the summer of 2019 we were treated to a reveal trailer, showing off the franchise’s glitzy new visual look, and the series’ trademark humor, albeit in a teaser that didn’t appear to show any gameplay:

Then in August 2020 we were pleasantly surprised to see a gameplay trailer that matched the visual polish of the teaser. As well as showing off key playable scenes from the franchise, from dogfights to lightsaber duels, the game still features the wacky toybox-like potential for mischief that previous Lego games have had. Keep an eye out for C-3PO riding a bantha, for instance:

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga setting and gameplay

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is in the enviable position of being able to adapt tales from right across the entire ‘Skywalker’ saga. 

In other words, you’ll be playing scenes from the original trilogy (Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi), the prequel trilogy (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith) and the sequel trilogy (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker).

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga trailer still

(Image credit: Travellers Tales / Lego / Disney)

That does mean the excellent Rogue One, Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Mandalorian TV show are not set to feature. However, the Deluxe Edition of the game is set to include a ‘Character Collection’ bundle, which will throw in six character packs including characters from The Mandalorian, Rogue One, Solo and even the new Star Wars: The Bad Batch animated series, as well as an additional pack including ‘Classic Characters’.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is expected to be a slight departure from the Lego games that have come before it, promising deeper gameplay than the simplistic platforming and combat of previous Lego games.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga trailer still showing C-3PO on a Bantha

(Image credit: Travellers Tales / Lego / Disney)

Each episode of film will feature five story missions, for a total of 45 core levels in the game. Combat has been sharpened up – lightsaber duels will focus on combo building, with a mixture of light, heavy and Force attacks wielded in tandem, while ranged shooting combat moves the gameplay to an over-the-shoulder viewpoint, ala Gears of War or Uncharted. It’ll still be family friendly, but might not be quite as button-mashy as previous Lego games.

You’ll have plenty of hub worlds to explore before taking on the core missions, and these will be littered with secrets to find and collectibles to… er… collect. Hubs will range from the desolate wastes of Tatooine to the forests of Endor and the dark heart of Exegol, where the Emperor holds court. It’s an incredibly ambitious undertaking then, collating all the major sights (and sites) of the near-complete Star Wars universe. All of these locations will include random encounters too – you might be messing around before being ambushed by a Tie Fighter fleet, for example.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga trailer still showing Luke and two Porgs wearing his cloak

(Image credit: Travellers Tales / Lego / Disney)

Vehicular based play will also be significant. The gameplay trailer shows the player taking the controls of everything from a podracer to an X-Wing, a Snowspeeder to those stupid horse things that turned up in Rise of Skywalker. 

There will be variety, collectibles and fan-favourite characters and scenes aplenty then. Who knows – it may even wash away the bad taste The Rise of Skywalker left us with. We’ll have more on Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga as it’s revealed, so keep checking back to TechRadar for all the latest news.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga news and rumors

Reaffirming 2022

We’re still waiting for an official confirmation of the Lego Star Wars: Skywalker Saga release date but the official Twitter account for Warner Bros Brazil has reaffirmed that we can expect to see the game in 2022, including it as part of a January 2022 Twitter thread of games that are expected to release this year alongside Hogwarts Legacy and Gotham Knights.

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Narrowing down the release window?

TT Games hasn’t narrowed down the release date for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga but a recent report from Star Wars leaker Bespin Bulletin has suggested that the studio is aiming for either April or May. Writing in a blogpost, the leaker said, “The last thing I heard on LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was that April/May is when the game is looking to release, but it’s not set in stone and things are ever-changing in the current landscape due to COVID-19, which has already forced multiple delays upon The Skywalker Saga.” 

April or May would be right within the Spring 2022 window we currently have for the game but as yet nothing has been officially confirmed. 

Boba Fett?

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has been making some noise on Twitter with a brand new character clip. Following the release of The Book of Boba Fett, the Lego Star Wars Twitter account posted a promotional clip featuring Boba Fett on Tatooine. In the clip, Boba Fett wields a weapon but, even more importantly, he speaks. 

When one Twitter user asked whether the voice in the clip belonged to Daniel Logan, the voice of young Boba Fett in Attack of the Clones, Logan himself responded by saying that it was him. It’s possible that this means Logan will be the voice of older Boba Fett throughout the game, though this hasn't been outright confirmed just yet.

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Marketing restarted?

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga didn’t get an update at the last big event of 2021—The Game Awards—but marketing for the game has restarted on its Twitter account. After a fairly long silence on the official Twitter page for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, there were a few tweets in November with brief clips of characters in the game. The game still has a vague 'Spring 2022' release window so seeing more life on its social channels again seems like the kind of thing that can be taken as a good sign, even if it was relatively short-lived.  

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You choose the order

We know that players will be able to play across nine films of the Skywalker saga but according to the Warner Bros page for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Sage, players will be able to access all of them right away and play "in any order they choose. They can direct where to go and how to play." This means a good amount of freedom and the chance to play through all of your favorite worlds first.

In an interview with StarWars.com, Jonathan Smith, head of production and strategic director at TT Games, said this freedom of choice "is a really important principle for us", adding, "We love stories and storytelling; but we also feel, both as gamers ourselves and with particular concern for young players driven to experimentation and change, that stories exist to be played with, however the player wants."

Play on the light or dark side of the force

According to the Warner Bros page for the game, players will also have access to "hundreds of playable characters from throughout the galaxy and every era of the saga" from Luke Skywalker through to Darth Vader. Of course, this means you'll be able to choose whether to play on the light or dark side of the force. 

Plenty to explore

The game's official page also highlights some of the locations that players will be able to explore "such as the desert of Geonosis, to the swamps of Dagobah and the snowfields of Starkiller Base", never mind the space exploration. It will, apparently, be possible to revisit a planet at any time, too, so there's no need to worry about never seeing your favorite settings again. 



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