Hear about the heartwrenching tale of Factor 5's two Star Wars: Rogue Squadron projects that were shut down years ago.

Thanks to Destructoid, we can add Factor 5's Star Wars: Rogue Squadron compilation remake and its X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter multiplayer game to the long list of amazing Star Wars titles that have been cancelled. Factor 5's President, Julian Eggebrecht, revealed that the 2008 financial crisis resulted in the cancellation of his company's two big Rogue Squadron projects. The X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter Rogue Squadron game was meant to be multiplayer-oriented, while the compilation was going to contain a grand remake of the flying-shooter trilogy. The Rogue Squadron compilation was first changed from being an original Xbox release to a Wii title. This Wii compilation was to have numerous control changes implemented, such as Wii Motion Plus lightsaber fights, Wii Wheel flight controls and a redesigned graphics engine.

In terms of the multiplayer Rogue Squadron, Eggebrecht said the following:

"[Rogue Squadron: X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter] was much more about groups, because it's always Rogue Squadron, right? So, you would be Red 5, together with the Reds essentially attacking, and there would be the Imperial side. And that would be the two factions duking it out in essentially the [Star Wars] movie battles, and then in additional battles."

LucasArts eventually cancelled both projects, and Sony's Shuhei Yoshida reached out to Factor 5 to sign the studio up as a developer for a PS3 title. Factor 5 pitched the X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter concept, but Sony wanted a new PS3 game with an original IP. Eggebrecht and Factor 5's debut PS3 title turned out to be Lair, which was met with abysmal reviews across the board. Eggebrecht said that Lair "was far too ambitious for a launch title [and] a pretty big mistake."

We hope that the Star Wars project helmed by Amy Hennig (the Uncharted series' director and writer) and Star Wars: Battlefront will be enough to make up for the loses of these two great-sounding games. But with Disney shutting down LucasArts earlier this year and cancelling all of the Star Wars titles it had in development, the idea of an optimized Rogue Squadron has gone far, far away.

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