Stormtroopers from Galaxy in Turmoil

Frontwire Studios announced a while back that they are working on a fan remake of the canceled Star Wars Battlefront 3. The project, Galaxy in Turmoil, is being made in Unreal Engine 4 and instead of reusing leaked assets from Star Wars Battlefront 3 the team has decided to create their own, all in the hopes of avoiding the wrath of Disney and their hordes of lawyers.

While I still have my doubts about the success of this project it does seem to have gained a bit of legitimacy as Frontwire recently announced that they have struck a deal with Valve in order to publish Galaxy in Turmoil on Steam. This still doesn't mean the project has received an "all clear" signal from Disney, but if Valve believes they can publish it for free without worrying about copyright issues there might just be a glimmer of hope there.

Here's what the developers themselves had to say about the deal with Valve, but also about the mouse-shaped 'threat' that still looms over them:

"For the past few months we have been telling everyone that we would not be able to release Galaxy in Turmoil on Steam due to restrictions with our use of the Star Wars IP. Obviously we’re not a major studio like Bethesda or any of the other big ones,  so we obviously lack the negotiating power of a studio that has put out various triple A titles. The second avenue we discussed was Steam Greenlight, however their terms of service state your game can only consist of assets you own, such as Star Wars characters, names, etc. As we all know, Frontwire Studios does not own Star Wars (As much as I wish we did).

It is with great pleasure that as of today I am able to officially announce that Frontwire Studios has officially signed a distribution deal with Steam/Valve for the game Galaxy in Turmoil. After ongoing discussion between Valve Representatives and myself, Valve/Steam has agreed to ship Galaxy in Turmoil to it’s millions of users for FREE.

On a final note; People have been expressed their concern as of late, saying they expect us to get a Cease & Desist from Disney. I’ll be honest – I’ve had mild concerns myself from time to time. However Valve clearly lacks that same concern. By agreeing to publish Galaxy in Turmoil, Valve is assisting us in growing and ensuring the longevity of the Galaxy in Turmoil project and community as a whole."

Given that Disney has canceled projects both bigger and smaller than this one I highly doubt Galaxy in Turmoil is going to reach completion, but in a strange way its not all that bad. Since the developers have decided to tackle such a high profile project as Star Wars Battlefront 3 it means that they are going to get a certain amount of recognition, whether it becomes successful or not. This way, even if the project ends up unceremoniously canceled via a single email the folks over at Frontwire will have a rather fancy note to add to their resume, one that could help them secure jobs elsewhere in the industry, so whatever happens their efforts will not be wasted.

If you're interested in learning more about Galaxy in Turmoil you can visit either the official website, or rummage through the Twitter account to find some juicy photos. 

The X-wing fighter plane from Galaxy in Turmoil