Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is coming in April with new combo and counter driven combat

The Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga release date is official, and it comes with an in-depth gameplay trailer with action pulled from all three trilogies.

As previously leaked by a retailer, the long-awaited Lego Star Wars game is set to arrive on April 5 across PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was initially planned to be released in 2021 (at least according to a leaked Lego Store page), but was subsequently delayed to 2021 then spring 2022.

The gameplay overview trailer which accompanied the announcement offers our most detailed look at how the game plays yet. The basics will be familiar for fans of previous Lego games, but we also get a good look at the new over-the-shoulder camera angle and expanded melee combat system that seem to make for a much more engaging experience even for seasoned players. Developer TT Games told GR's Josh West that it's meant to be the "the best Lego Star Wars game ever possible", as well as feeling like a fitting end to the series' 17-year era.

The trailer and release date announcement make this an exciting day to be a Lego Star Wars fan, but some of the other news is instead very disturbing: they arrived at the same time as a new report from Polygon, which alleges "extensive crunch" at the developer as it worked to release the ambitious game on a new engine. The report also cites a broader history of hostile working environments for certain members of staff, particularly women employees. 

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.