A Bothan Spy has come up big if what I'm about to pass along comes to fruition...

We have recently heard from LucasArts that there are no plans for multiplayer on the PS3 or the Xbox 360 versions of The Force Unleashed since it's going to be availble on the Wii, PSP and DS. (See this post with our friends at EUCantina.net) Well, that might not be entirely true according to my source who is rather close to the TFU action. I can only go into so much detail to protect our Bothan Spy so feel free to take this as a rumor but if it turns out to be true, you heard it hear first! Per BS (gotta love the shorthand initials :) Microsoft is currently working on a new patch for Xbox Live that is slated to come out sometime early next year. The patch is none other than The Force Unleashed Multi-Player! Based on what has been seen of this "demo patch", there are 45 players to choose from in multiple costumes and the EU is highly represented. Characters include Quinlan Vos, Mara Jade, Assaj Ventress, Jedi Leia, A'Sharad Hett, Qui-Gon, Cin Drallig, Darth Desolous, Darth Maul, Count Dooku, Jedi Brute (from the ROTS game), Anakin, Yoda, Mace, Ben Kenobi, Luke, Vader Paplatine, characters from the Legacy series and more. Apparently there will be 3 patches total so who knows what else might be in store.

To say this could be great news is an understatement! Though multiplayer on the Wii should be fantastic, imagine the multiplayer with full use of the next-gen console capabilities, graphics and use of Euphoria and Digital Molecular Matter. Let's not also forget the wide scope of Xbox Live in general. How many players will be able to battle it out at once while talking trash over the headphones?

Again, consider all this to be rumorific until we hear something official, but I'm excited. How about you?!

This post will self destruct in 5, 4, 3...


UPDATE: The good news keeps rolling in. Someone close to TFU and the PS3 saw the above post and wrote in to confirm that multiplayer patches for the PS3 are currently being worked on as well. Bothan Spy #2 says that right now the multiplayer is up to 4 players but that could expand with online play. Some of the other cool tidbits that were mentioned included General Grievous' "Collect Saber Mode", a huge assortment of maps and a "Temple" mode where you can attack or defend the Jedi Temple. Sweet! Again, consider this to be a rumor if you like but I've been pretty confident in the sources in this post. (who will remain nameless for obvious reasons) He also mentioned that more patches were on the way but couldn't confirm as to what they will entail.


On another note, we got an interesting Xbox 360 theory from our good friend "Master Devwi" that I thought was worth posting. He does stress that this is just his speculation. But what if...


"I just read your post about a potential multiplayer patch for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for Xbox 360. In it, the rumor states that: “Microsoft is currently working on a new patch for Xbox Live that is slated to come out sometime early next year. The patch is none other than The Force Unleashed Multiplayer!” and that “Apparently there will be 3 patches total so who knows what else might be in store.”

Well, for the past month or so, all the major gaming websites have been reporting that Microsoft plans to announce a motion-sensing controller, codenamed “Newton,” to compete with the Wiimote. Microsoft is rumored to officially announce the Newton controller at E3 this summer. Now, in the multiplayer rumor post, it says that Microsoft, not LucasArts, is planning the patches. And not just one patch, but three! Could one of the patches be for multiplayer and another for… Newton controller compatibility?

Think about it: there are tons of Star Wars fans who have said they plan to buy a Wii just so they can play Star Wars: The Force Unleashed with a motion-sensing controller. If the Xbox 360 version included HD graphics, DMM, Euphoria, potential downloadable content, multiplayer over Xbox LIVE, and support for the motion-sensing Newton controller, it would be the ultimate version of the game. Plus, who knows what the third patch could bring? Microsoft would see a huge benefit in releasing multiplayer and Newton controller patches."



Big thanks to our Bothan Spies and "Master Devwi"! More as we hear it!


UPDATE #2: See below for LucasArts' clarification of the posts above:

"There are no plans at LucasArts to add multiplayer to The Force Unleashed to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at any time. Your Bothan spies have led you astray in this case.

In addition, the publication that initially quoted me as saying that there isn’t any multiplayer for those platforms because there is on Wii, PSP, and DS got what I said wrong. That’s not the case at all, and there was no trade-off or decision like that. The fact that multiplayer exists on Wii, PSP, and DS has no bearing on the fact that it doesn’t on PS3 and Xbox 360. They were completely independent decisions and completely different development teams working on those projects."


:( Well, it was nice to dream :) Either way, we have one hell of a game coming our way with lots of exclusive content throughout multiple platforms that goes well beyond just having or not having multiplayer. September 16th can't come soon enough.