Warner Bros. Games released a gameplay overview of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga today, giving us a detailed look at the dramatic changes to the LEGO Star Wars formula that have been in the works at Traveller’s Tales.
First announced in 2019, the sequel to Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been delayed several times as development seems to have taken the series in an entirely new direction. The gameplay overview features space combat, cover mechanics, skill trees, branching level design, and semi-open worlds brought to settings from every trilogy. It’ll be the first LEGO entries for The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
Last year’s trailer featured in-game dialogue, a notable departure from previous games. In the new gameplay trailer, the only dialogue shown was yells, grunts, and animal noises, though the video teases a comedic “mumbling mode” as a throwback to the original LEGO Star Wars games.
You can watch the new gameplay overview below:
Warner Bros.’ announcement coincided with the release of a new report from Polygon detailing a culture of crunch and hostile management plaguing developers at Traveller’s Tales since the game entered development in 2017.
Journalist Jack Yarwood, who conducted the months-long investigation into the games troubled development, alleges the trailer was intentionally released around alongside the report: “[Warner Bros.] and [TT Games] knew this article was coming and the timing of today’s announcement seems like an attempt to distract from it.”
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will launch on the Xbox family of consoles, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC on April 5.