For those of you who were as big a fan as I of the first two Battlefronts, you've likely been aware for some time now that the third sequel was well into development before ultimately being dropped. Some footage of the prototype can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_skPXgxobmI

The good news is the entire project was leaked, and this fell into the hands of a group of ambitious Russian modders who have taken it upon themselves to bring the game to life. Initially this seemed farfetched, but not only have they made enormous strides with the game, but Valve has actually given the OK and agreed to offer it on Steam, provided it is called Star Wars: Galaxy in Turmoil (so as to not piss off Disney and EA by claiming to be the third Battlefront) and be available for free (again, as there's zero chance it'd be OK with Disney otherwise).

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-06-06-star-wars-battlefront-3-fan-remake-backed-by-valve-for-steam-release

Now, even with those steps to avoid a quick Disney smackdown of the project, they could certainly still pull the plug. Valve, after all, isn't about to risk a lawsuit over a free game if Disney issues any threats.  So far, though, Disney has not expressed any issue with the game so long as no one is making money off of it, and it seems possible, if not likely just yet, that we'll indeed get to play this game.

Personally, as someone who loved the first two battlefronts and was very disappointed with the most recent installment, I'm very excited. I can't imagine it will live up to Battlefront 2 given the state of the prototype that they're building on, but it would be such a unique and cool twist to actually see an abandoned game brought back from the dead for once! :)

Is anyone else holding out hope for this?

I highly doubt this will happen, they might have gotten away with it releasing it on their own site, soon as it goes near steam they're getting c&d'd

Well it really, really surprises me that Valve has said it will host it on Steam. I'm hoping they tested the waters with Disney before they made said announcement, as it's a rather puzzling risk otherwise. One would think they'd not risk a lawsuit like that.

Its a suitable game for its age. Great graphics, but scarce content, variety, maps and weapons. I enjoyed it for what it is with about 50 hours or so of playtime. But I doubt I will care for any sequels.

The fan remake sounds interesting. Will keep an eye on it but I don't expect much tbh.

I'm certainly no lawyer with any knowledge on how these things work, so I was mostly just making assumptions. I would think that if one could threaten a lawsuit, then one could also simply skip the threat and file the lawsuit, but I may very well be wrong about that.

I have to imagine Disney could make sure this didn't happen, but it may also be that Valve isn't actually running any real risk here so long as they cooperate. I was kind of hoping they'd only made this move after clearing it with Disney first, but there's no evidence that they did so.

This is really interesting. I have no idea how are they going to avoid the inevitalbe Disney cease and desist lawsuit, but if they can get it to work, it would be amazing.

I almost wish they'd not gone so high profile with it and just released it onto the internet. Here's hoping Disney holsters its lawyers and lets this one slide! :p

If they're using any of the old code or assets, I sincerely doubt this will see the light of day, let alone distribute officially on Steam. Not holding my breath.

Mods will kill this IMO.

Haha that's a nice library there!