Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) announced earlier this week that they are releasing a new trading card game called Star Wars: Unlimited. It’s an announcement that has surprised many fans, coming seemingly out of the blue. This is a game that will see three releases each year and be accessible to all. Sounds good, right? Star Wars has a long history of card games stemming all the way back to the Star Wars Customisable Card Game from the 1990s (which I reviewed a while back), to most recently Star Wars: Destiny, which was also released from FFG.
So, what can we tell from this announcement? Well, the company says the game has been in development for three years and the company is putting all their considerable resources behind it. Which means FFG mean business. They have released a slew of Star Wars games in the last decade, from X-Wing to Armada, from Rebellion to Legion. But recently these games have been on a downward trend, there hasn’t been a huge release for the company, and it sounds like Unlimited might be the game to try and change that and put FFG back on the map.
It’s interesting that the company is choosing to release the statement now, when the game is not due until 2024. Of course, next month sees the release of not one, but two Star Wars games that are competition for FFG, Atomic Mass’s Shatterpoint (a miniature skirmish game) and Funko Pop Games Rivals (a family friendly one vs one game). This announcement says to fans loud and clear that FFG are not out of the Star Wars race yet.
The fan reaction has been rather mixed to the news, some are very excited to see a new Star Wars game release, others are a little more skeptical. I’m certainly of the latter. A few years ago, I was a huge fan and player of Star Wars: Destiny. A card game with some dice for weapons and characters, it was a huge amount of fun and had a vast following. However, the release schedule became so busy that fans just couldn’t keep up with the releases and as the game went to cyclical play, it meant that any cards purchased were obsolete a mere two years after their release. The game was cancelled not long after and a lot of fans were upset and frustrated at the treatment of this wonderful game. FFG are going to have to work hard to reassure fans this is not going to happen again. The three releases a year gives me pause. Depending on the card count and the structure of the game this could be perfectly fine. It could also be a pit for your wallet that could be spent on other games. Only time will tell as more information is slowly released.
With games like Shatterpoint and Rivals out within the next month, FFG have released this information to try and show that something new and exciting is coming. For some, this will be great news, a way to experience a trading card game for the first time. For others, it will be a bitter pill to try and swallow, to trust that FFG can provide a game of the same caliber as Star Wars: Destiny. All that anyone can be sure of, is that this is a game that a lot of fans are going to be following closely as FFG release more details as the year progresses. With organised competing play being supported immediately on release (something FFG have always been superb at), they are really going to want to keep fans onside and reassure their previous fans that this is the game we’ve all been looking for.
