Stig Asmussen, the game director behind Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, is set to depart Respawn Entertainment, as announced by parent company Electronic Arts (EA) via Bloomberg.
“After careful thought and consideration, Stig Asmussen has decided to leave Respawn to pursue other adventures, and we wish him the best of luck,” EA said in a provided statement. “Veteran Respawn leaders will be stepping up to guide the team as they continue their work on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.” While Asmussen’s next steps were not revealed in the announcement, his departure is likely to cause waves.
As part of the Star Wars Jedi team, Asmussen played a key part in revitalising EA’s efforts to expand the world of Star Wars. Bringing his experiences on the God of War franchise to the company, he worked to mould Star Wars Jedi into a wildly successful franchise.
The first game in the series, Fallen Order, launched to strong critical reviews and sales success in 2019 – and its sequel, Survivor, was similarly a strong performer. It launched in early 2023 to high praise, with many calling it a cinematic adventure that represented the very best of Star Wars. In the GamesHub review, we noted it was “a breakneck sci-fi epic grounded by a deftly-written main cast.”
Read: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor interview – Stig Asmussen on narrative bounds
In an early 2023 interview, GamesHub spoke with Asmussen about the future of the Star Wars Jedi franchise, and its potential to tell ambitious new Star Wars myths. Asmussen was enthusiastic about its potential, and how the “huge” nature of the galaxy meant there were plenty of stories left to tell.
Other interviews with the game director had revealed his ambitions to helm a third game in the Star Wars Jedi franchise, to bring the story of Cal Kestis to a satisfying conclusion.
“I always wanted to see this as a trilogy,” Asmussen told IGN earlier in the year. “How can we take Cal and the crew to new places beyond what we were doing in the first game?”
“We had a pretty decent idea of timeframe where we wanted Survivor to take place, what the stakes were going to be, what the tone of the game was going to be, what Cal was going to be up against, and how the crew was going to factor into that. And there’s ideas of what we could do beyond that as well.”
While this third game may very well go ahead, given the success of the Jedi franchise, it will seemingly do so without Asmussen’s guidance. Wherever Asmussen winds up next, we wish him luck in his endeavours.
