Rumour: Star Wars Battlefront 3 files found on Operation Raccoon City disc
Some industrious and curious folks have been trawling through the data on the Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City disc and found what appear to be data files related to a Star Wars game that is likely Battlefront 3.
The files on the disc discovered by folks on the BetaGames Forums appear to be loading screens that depict the classic Star Wars level, Hoth. The folks at NeoGAF have mirrored some of the content, which is hidden in a registration-only section of the BetaGames forums.
"It is the morning of the Imperial assault on the Rebel base on Hoth," the ripped loading screen states. "The wreckage of a downed Victory Class Star Destroyer is the setting for one of the first battles over Echo Base and the future of the Rebellion hangs in the balance."
The disc also contains files that are unmistakably textures for Luke Skywalker dressed in his orange A-Wing pilot's uniform from The Empire Strikes Back's classic opening battle. There also appears to be a model that goes with the textures, but the BetaGames thread doesn't show it ripped yet.
In the file structure of the disc the items in question are stored in a directory simply named "Luke."
Back in January 2010 Kotaku reported that Slant Six Games, the developer of Operation Raccoon City, were working on an online-only entry in the Battlefront series simply titled "Star Wars Battlefront Online." It's not clear if Slant Six are still working on the title, but the existence of these files seems to corroborate that story.
Both Raccoon City and Battlefront are third person shooters - meaning technology could be potentially shared - and Slant Six are best-known for their efforts with SOCOM, another third person shooter series.
Rumours as recent as last month place a Battlefront title with Spark Unlimited, developers of Call of Duty: Finest Hour, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty and Legendary.
Spark responded to the rumours with a telling wink, stating that they were "working on a sequel for a well known sci-fi franchise," and that "all aspects must remain secret."
Job postings and LinkedIn profiles point to them making a third person sci-fi shooter which also has sword fighting elements for a "high profile" franchise. The writing is likely on the wall here.
Battlefront 3 started life at Free Radical - whose version even has leaked footage online - but has been seemingly shunted around various studios including the now-closed Pandemic since Free Radical went into administration and turned into Crytek UK. The saga continues.