UPDATE
Avellone’s LinkedIn page contains some tidbits on what he did for Respawn. Apparently, he worked on the game for slightly less than a year as a Narrative Designer/Writer (contractor) who did story work, story/character reviews, and wrote cinematic scripts for Star Wars Jedi: The Fallen Order.
But the real kicker is that the other game he mentioned in that tweet might very well be the rumored Vampire: The Masquerade game due to be announced by Paradox Interactive on March 21st. As you can read below, he worked with Hardsuit Labs for a bit over two years (known for Blacklight: Retribution and owned for one-third by Paradox) as a Narrative Designer/Writer, and the description even says he did so ‘tenderly’ with other developers. Incidentally, Tender is the name of the fictional dating app (matching profiles based on their blood types) that is being used as an ARG to hype up the reveal.
Related Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Isn’t Waiting for E3, Will Be Unveiled in April
ORIGINAL STORY
In an entirely offhanded way, esteemed RPG designer and writer Chris Avellone (Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, KOTOR 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas) revealed on Twitter that he worked on Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, the highly anticipated game in development at Respawn Entertainment for a release in the Fall season. It is unknown in which capacity he contributed to the game, but the mere fact that he did instantly increased the hype his many fans have for Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order.
I can’t say 100% b/c of NDAs, but the ones I can say: I just finished up work with Jedi: The Fallen Order – and beyond that, there’s another big bomb dropping in a month! Er, I mean, maybe. Ahem.
— Chris Avellone (@ChrisAvellone) March 1, 2019
Truth to be told Avellone, now a freelancer since his departure from Obsidian, has worked on a rather impressive number of games just in the past three years. These include Torment: Tides of Numenera, Prey, Divinity: Original Sin II, Into the Breach, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Omensight, and Degrees of Separation. He is also working on the System Shock remake and on the indie top-down RPG Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms, though his most prominent role is that of Narrative Designer on Dying Light 2. And in that tweet, he even confirmed to have worked on yet another game that hasn’t been announced yet.
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order remains quite the mystery. It’s supposed to be an action/adventure game, at least based on the fact that his director is God of War 3’s Stig Asmussen, and it is also believed to be a single player title (though for all we know, there could be some multiplayer elements).
Related EA: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Plays ‘Spectacularly Well’, ‘Truly Captures’ the Jedi Fantasy; Will Be Showcased Soon
What we do know for sure is that it will explore a specific turning point in Star Wars lore, the enforcement of Order 66 by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (secretly Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith), which commanded clone troopers to hunt down and exterminate all Jedi. The game will put players into the shoes of one escaped Padawan trying to survive this tragic event for the Jedi Order.
Its debut is expected at the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, on April 13th.
