In 2012, fans of the Star Wars franchise would have their hype bolstered by an E3 trailer for a new Star Wars game titled Star Wars 1313. It showed an action-adventure experience with an unnamed protagonist and mentor. People were extremely excited to play this gritty, realistic Star Wars game, but sadly, it was never meant to be.
The gameplay, which showed off what LucasArts was up to after completion of Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2, was met with great appraise but was soon canceled following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars brand. Many still wonder what could have been.
12 It Was Originally Star Wars’ Grand Theft Auto
Within Jason Schreier’s book, Blood, Sweat and Pixels, he stated that 1313 was conceived in 2009 and that LucasArts was inspired by Grand Theft Auto. This was a concept that was quickly dropped, due to the complexity of the idea.
Creating an entirely open space for players to explore every crevice, was too great a challenge for any studio. To have every corner of the galaxy oozing Star Wars DNA was a task too long and expensive. However, fans might not have to wait much longer for an open-world Star Wars game.
11 It Was Going For A ‘Mature’ Rating
One of the earliest indications of Star Wars going mature was that in the gameplay demo, one of the characters says a curse word never uttered in Star Wars before, or since. This character tells the other to stop “bitching”.
Swearing isn’t the only gateway into a mature rating. As the game director, Dominic Robilliard stated “it means adult themes and stories”. The game’s direction wanted to tell a gritty story that didn’t need grotesque violence. The developers believed violence was not Star Wars, but serious story content was.
10 It Wasn’t Originally A Boba Fett Game
The game had been in pre-production for a few years at LucasArts. The team had even submitted a few drafts of the story, and several levels mapped out. However, two months before the game’s reveal, George Lucas mandated that the game be centered around a young Boba Fett.
The developers, who had already put a great amount of work into the story and gameplay of their original Star Wars game, needed to find a way to make a Boba Fett game work into their concept.
9 A Video Game Tie-In To A Canceled Live-Action TV Show
1313 was going to be a video game tie-in to the live-action TV show Star Wars: Underworld. The show was supposed to be between Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith and Episode 4: A New Hope. Underworld was announced in 2005, and throughout the years that Lucasfilm ran independent, they hired many writers and art designers to visualize Lucas’ ideas.
The show never managed to get off the ground because of the budget restraints in making each episode a movie for TV back in the late 2000s. Even God of War’s director Cory Barlog having read some episode scripts said how the show was going to make The Emperor a sympathetic character.
8 There Was Bounty Hunting
Although there is no official confirmation or former employee comments on the matter, one of the leaked gameplay segments shows Boba Fett in a chase scene of the two characters we saw in the official gameplay reveal. This gameplay showed what fans could expect from an action-adventure Star Wars title. With ships flying overhead, and sprawling city views.
From the leaked gameplay, and the leaked tackling animation test, it’s clear that running after and capturing people was going to be a theme. Perhaps 1313 was going to follow in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter’s footsteps, and allow the player to hunt on the side.
7 Boba’s Arsenal Of Weaponry Is Utilized
It is more than likely that the HUD revealed in leaked gameplay was incomplete, but had the basics to feature what could have been. Toward the right of the screen, keen eyes would spot a fire symbol, rockets, and perhaps a dart. Developer Matthias Worch also detailed a working jetpack.
These symbols represent some of Boba Fett’s iconic weaponry, like his flamethrower, the dart his father uses in Episode 2: Attack of the Clones to kill Zam Wesell, and his wrist rockets that come in a barrage.
6 It Became Star Wars’ Uncharted
With the gameplay shown, it was clear that 1313 was taken heavy inspiration from Naughty Dog's Uncharted. Not just in the dynamic between the two unnamed characters and how they played off each other like Nate and Sully, but from the cover shooting mechanics, large-scale set pieces, and climbing mechanics.
As a human bounty hunter, the player was limited to normal abilities and would have to rely on Parkour and climbing to traverse hard areas, much like Nathan Drake. Ironically, Uncharted’s game director, Amy Henning worked on a Star Wars game with Visceral Games, which was also canceled.
5 The Original Protagonist Model Was The Force Unleashed’s Starkiller
When in-game screenshots leaked for LucasArts’ 1313 project, fans would be able to spot the build and year that the game was in development. As well as being on Unreal Engine 3, the date was titled 2010, showing that the game was in the works for quite some time before its reveal.
What’s also interesting, is that The Force Unleashed’s protagonist Starkiller was the player model. Perhaps this was simply a placeholder that LucasArts used, or maybe it was intended for something more. We will never know, yet the former seems likely.
4 You Had a Crazy Co-Op Droid Partner
Jesse Harlin was a composer at LucasArts who was set to create the music for 1313. On his personal Twitter account years after the game’s cancellation, he revealed that he was working on hip-hop music that would be the obsession of a malfunctioning protocol droid named 80-HD. Harlin speculated that the droid shown in the leaked animation demo was 80-HD.
What’s most interesting about this droid is the buddy system that would have been in place. The animations show the player character injured, to which 80-HD would be able to heal and revive the player, as detailed by YouTuber Bombastic.
3 A Boba Still Mourning
One of the most notable aspects of Boba Fett is his character design. Boba’s armor is so iconic that it practically spurred the creation of the Mandalorians. When fans learned of the armor’s original owner, Jango Fett, they saw its original silver and blue design.
In 1313's leaked screenshots, Boba wears his father’s helmet, without giving it the distinctive green paint job seen in Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back. We can assume that Boba is still mourning the loss of his father, and honoring him as the greatest bounty hunter.
2 Variety Of Scum And Villainy
In some revealed concept art for 1313, Boba Fett can be seen fighting multiple different iconic alien species in Star Wars history. One such concept art has Boba using his flamethrower attachment to burn a pair of Tusken Raiders.
What this concept art revealed is just how many types of enemies and changing locations we would experience. As Tusken Raiders are found on Tatooine, this seems to be deeper than the Coruscant sublevel 1313 if Tuskens are hiding amongst the scrapheaps. It could have delved deeper into their history, much like the beloved Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which a remake is in the works.
1 A Trandoshan With Beskar
One of the characters or enemies of 1313 was revealed to be a Trandoshan sporting stolen Mandalorian armor, as revealed by concept artist Colin Fix. It is unknown what role this character would have played, but his appearance is rather menacing, and the Mandalorian concept was scrapped.
Perhaps this character “Orthos” would be the antagonist. Challenging Boba’s skills and enhancing his experience as an early bounty hunter.