After shuttering LucasArts just a month ago, Disney has now found a new home for Star Wars games in Electronic Arts. The two companies have struck an exclusive publishing deal, with EA-owned studios DICE, Visceral Games, and BioWare set to develop these new titles.
EA’s deal gives the company the ability to create titles intended for core gamers on “all interactive platforms.” Disney, however, retains the rights to publish its own casual and social Star Wars games for mobile devices, tablets, and the Internet. The exact terms of the deal were not revealed.
“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. DICE and Visceral will produce new games, joining the BioWare team which continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay.”
Gibeau announced that all upcoming Star Wars games will be developed using the Frostbite 3 engine, which was created by DICE for Battlefield 4. DICE and Visceral — known respectively for Battlefield and Dead Space — have yet to develop a Star Wars game, while BioWare is responsible for the classic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and continues to support the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.
“Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, in a press release on the Star Wars website. “When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear.”
In a blog post on the EA website, Gibeau called Star Wars “an epic world that had a powerful influence on my life” and said he considers himself “a true believer.”
“The magic of Star Wars is interwoven into the worlds, characters, planets and amazing battles,” he continued. “It is a universe that lends itself perfectly to gaming. Our agreement unlocks a whole new future of Star Wars games that will span consoles, PCs, tablets, mobile and more.”
Neither of the two press releases nor the blog entry mentioned any specifics regarding the games coming from EA aside from Gibeau’s assurance that they “will be entirely original with all new stories.” There was also no word on whether or not the deal meant new life for Star Wars 1313 or Star Wars: First Assault. Both were titles being developed by LucasArts that were canceled upon the closing of the studio.
