UPDATE 10/04 2PM: GameInformer has now released concept art of the cancelled Darth Maul Star Wars game. Here's a taster - many more pictures on GameInformer.

ORIGINAL STORY 09/04 9.45AM: A Star Wars game starring Phantom Menace troublemaker Darth Maul was in production for nearly eight months, according to a new report and a clip of leaked gameplay.

The game's existance was outed last night by Game Informer magazine (thanks, Polygon) and later back up by footage from the game which popped up on YouTube.

Development on the Darth Maul project began in late 2010 at Texas indie outfit Red Fly Studio, which was tapped up by LucasArts after its work on the Wii port of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. Originally due as a Nintendo-exclusive, the game was later shifted to PC, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360.

But Red Fly was kept in the dark about a number of issues (including Maul's impending resurrection in the Clone Wars TV show) and eventually the project fell foul of Star Wars head honcho George Lucas, who stepped in midway through development to request the game be changed to a "buddy cop-like experience" starring Maul and expanded universe character Darth Talon.

LucasArts later cut off communication with Red Fly Studio and binned the project completely. How could they stoop Solo?

Watch how the game once looked below.