Bit Reactor and Respawn’s Star Wars Strategy Game is Using Unreal Engine 5

In 2022, EA announced that Respawn Entertainment was partnering with Bit Reactor – a new studio comprised of former XCOM veterans – to work on a new strategy title based on the Star Wars IP. Since then, details on the project have been scant, but new tidbits about its development may have now emerged.

As spotted by a Reddit user, Bit Reactor recently put up a job listing for the position of a Senior Lighting Artist, and the ad would suggest the studio’s strategy title is being built on Unreal Engine 5, with “lighting various levels and cinematics using Lumen in Unreal Engine 5” listed as one of the role’s responsibilities. On top of that, the listing also mentions “experience working within Unreal Engine 4+” as one of the non-requisite bonuses the studio is looking for in applicants.

Meanwhile, the job ad also suggests that the game will also launch for consoles – something you wouldn’t necessarily always take for granted with strategy games – with “experience working on a AAA title, especially a console title” listed as another nice-to-have.

When Bit Reactor’s Star Wars strategy game was confirmed to be in development in 2022, EA revealed that Respawn Entertainment was also working on a single-player Star Wars first-person shooter. As part of EA’s recent mass layoffs, however, the latter – which was rumoured to feature a Mandalorian bounty hunter as its protagonist – was cancelled. Shortly afterward, Bit Reactor stated that its strategy game’s development hadn’t been impacted by EA’s layoffs.