Star Wars Battlefront IV Concept Art Includes Dark Side Luke, Jedi Leia

Electronic Arts insisted that the reason cosmetic microtransactions couldn't be included in Star Wars: Battlefront II was because it would be lore-breaking. Well, Free Radical Design, the former developers heading up Battlefront III, didn't care about breaking lore, especially if the Battlefront IV concept art is anything to go by.

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A post over on imgur from user LukeLandwalker, which you can scroll through above, showcases some concept images that Free Radical was working on for a possible re-envisioning of the Star Wars universe had things gone terribly awry (or right?) in Star Wars: Episode III.

Had LucasArts not killed off Star Wars: Battlefront III, the game's story mode would have come and gone and Free Radical would have been freed up to pursue a far more ambitious take on George Lucas' fantasy sci-fi universe. In fact, Star Wars: Battlefront IV was already in the concept stages even though Battlefront III wasn't even complete.

Free Radical had envisioned that Anakin would have killed Padme and Yoda following the birth of the twins, which would have led to Obi Wan going to the dark side, along with Luke. This is depicted in the concept art, where we see Obi Wan donning a black getup that looks like a cross between Darth Vader's plated armor with the uniform of an Imperial officer. In true Star Wars fashion, Obi Wan would have had a long flowing cape to match the dark gloves and collar armor. Two variants were designed, one where Obi Wan was bald and another where he had hair. I think the bald variant actually looks a lot more fitting for what Free Radical was going for.

Another variant showed Obi Wan when he was younger but as a Sith Lord, wearing what looks like tactical bondage gear, not unlike what Krizalid wears in King of Fighters '99.

To truly give gamers a flipped script of events, Free Radical would have made Count Dooku and Darth Maul Jedi. Yes, it would have been Jedi Master Dooku and Jedi Knight Maul.

We see in the concept art that Dooku looks rather fashionable in his Jedi garb.

Another really fascinating change is that Anakin Skywalker would have fully embraced the dark side and would have elevated himself as Emperor Vader. Concept art shows that the Vader armor would have been slightly improved and he would have more regal robes to match his daunting armor.

Obviously this leaves a lot of questions about who the other good guys would be and where they would fit? Well, much like Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Leia would still be a heroine for the ages. Maybe even more so in Star Wars: Battlefront IV, because Free Radical saw her as Jedi Leia.

Free Radical also had an alternate Darth Leia as well, and the concept art shows her in red and black attire wielding a red lightsaber.

Ventress from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars would also make an appearance as a Jedi, along with a non-cyborg version of General Grievous. Much like Star Wars: Battlefront III, the fourth game was going to be absolutely massive, with hundreds of units on-screen and sprawling battles set across well known (and not so well known) locations from the Star Wars universe. But alas, it was not meant to be and Free Radical had its doors shut, while Battlefront III was scrapped. EA handed off the project to DICE after acquiring the license from Disney, and now the rest is history.