At this point, gamers are no stranger to the tragedies of LucasArts. When the longtime Star Wars game developer was shuttered back in 2013, it took a number of high-profile games along with it — even two years later, we're still talking about how great Star Wars 1313 looked.

That being said, Star Wars 1313 wasn't the only LucasArts game to get the ax: when George Lucas sold the franchise rights to Disney, a small studio named Red Fly Studios was working on another, yet very different, Star Wars project. For the most part, its game was essentially the opposite of 1313: this wasn't about Uncharted-style action and blaster bolts, it was about good, old-fashioned lightsaber fights ... but players wouldn't be controlling one of the good guys. Instead of playing as yet another Jedi on the path of redemption, players would be taking control of one of the most under-utilized Star Wars characters ever: Darth Maul.

And yet, it simply wasn't meant to be: despite all of the work that the studio had completed, Red Fly's Darth Maul title was quietly canceled back in 2011. In fact, the public never knew about the project until a few Red Fly employees revealed it during a Reddit AMA earlier this year. Since then, the project has gathered quite a bit of steam ... but is there really any hope of Red Fly's Darth Maul game seeing the light of day?

If you're wondering why so many people are excited for a game that was canceled in 2011, it's simple: the Darth Maul game doesn't look like something that was canned four years ago. Since its cancellation, Red Fly Studios has continued to work on the Darth Maul game: any work was technically unofficial, but that clearly didn't stop the developers. It wasn't just small tweaks or minor updates, either: the team managed to port all of its work to the Unreal Engine 4 to ensure that the game could run on current-gen hardware. For those who aren't familiar with game development, just know that switching engines mid-development is no small feat — even for teams that are far bigger than Red Fly Studios.

Somehow, all of this happened during the most tumultuous time in LucasArts' long history. Since the studio's shutdown, fans have learned that, in a way, no one was really in charge at LucasArts before it was closed — it's even been cited as one of the major problems with Star Wars 1313's development. And yet, despite all of this, Red Fly managed to keep working on its Darth Maul game even without the publisher's guidance — it's far from a finished product, to be sure, but it's a lot further along than most other projects in similar situations.

So, what's the word on a possible revival? Unfortunately, things aren't looking good.

Following a series of Reddit AMAs, it seemed as though there was enough hype behind the Darth Maul project to possibly catch someone's attention. Sadly, it doesn't seem like that's the case: in an interview with GameInformer, Red Fly Studios founder Dan Borth initially sounded optimistic ... but recent developments don't leave much room for hope.

It's not as if Borth isn't doing his best to get the game made: prototypes of the game were brought to both Disney and EA, though neither studio seemed interested in reviving the project. To be fair, EA does have a number of Star Wars games already planned and in development, but that doesn't really take away the sting.

Just like that, Red Fly's Darth Maul project was back in limbo, if not entirely dead. It's a shame, too: Borth is clearly invested in the game, and it's easy to hear his passion for gaming whenever he talks about it. What's worse is that the game had a metric ton of potential: the game wasn't canceled because it was bad, or that the team wasn't working hard enough, it was canceled because of bad timing and board room meetings.

There is still hope for Red Fly Studios' work: parts of the canceled Darth Maul title are being appropriated into an original project, dubbed Dawn of Fire, and it's easy to assume that the company will continue to develop games just like it always has ... but even so, it's hard not to hope that somehow, someday, Darth Maul might make it to store shelves.

For even more on Red Fly's canceled Darth Maul game, check out Dan Borth's interview with GameInformer.

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