This is an unexpected turn of events. EA Games has announced that they have acquired the publishing/developing rights for games based on Star Wars from Disney. This breaking news follows the announcement that Disney shut down LucasArts and all internally developed Star Wars project to instead pursue licensing the brand out to the highest bidder.
That bidder, it seems, is none other than EA.
According to the announcement, EA will develop and publish Star Wars games as part of a multi-year deal with Disney. The games will be developed for the “core gaming audience” and will span all interactive platforms and genres. Disney will retain the rights to develop Star Wars games for mobile, social, tablet and online spaces.
EA mentions that Battlefield developer DICE, Dead Space developer Visceral Games and BioWare, the team currently working on Star Wars: The Old Republic, all have Star Wars games in the pipeline.
“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said Frank Gibeau, EA Label’s President. “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.”
Now we wait and see if EA will resurrect Star Wars 1313, as Disney made it clear the project is not dead, it’s just on ice.
While you think on the possibilities of what EA can do with Star Wars, why not also look back at what LucasArts accomplished with Star Wars and their other popular brands….
Erik Norris is the Gaming Editor for CraveOnline and co-host of Watch Us Play and the Next Gen News podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @Regular_Erik.
10 Best LucasArts Games
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Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC)
If adventure gaming has a name... It must be Indiana Jones. Fate of Atlantis is the pinnacle of Lucas’ pulp action hero in the realm of gaming.
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Star Wars: Dark Forces (PC, Mac, PS1)
Hello, Kyle Katarn and the Dark Troopers. Dark Forces is responsible for introducing a number of gameplay mechanics like jump (!) and duck(!!) into the FPS genre.
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Grim Fandango (PC)
Written by Tim Schafer of Double Fine fame, Grim Fandango was the first LucasArts’ developed adventure game to use 3D computer graphics. It’s commercial failure, however, led to the downfall of adventure games.
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The Secret of Monkey Island (PC)
The brainchild of Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman, The Secret of Monkey Island still holds up today as one of the greatest examples of adventure gaming ever. It’s still hilarious, too!
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Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (PC)
The same dream team that worked on The Secret of Monkey Island returned for its sequel, producing a game that is arguably even better than the original.
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Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox, PC)
It’s a crying shame we never got a follow-up to this game. Republic Commando ranks as not only one of the best Star Wars shooter, but one of the best Star Wars games, period.
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Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64, PC)
Rogue Squadron was an action-heavy flight game so huge LucasArts had to ask Nintendo for permission to use the N64’s new expansion pack to bump the resolution up to a whopping 640x480. Power! This game also spawned two sequels, so we’re not alone in thinking it’s quite good.
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Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GCN)
There was a lot riding on the follow-up to Rogue Squadron, but Rogue Leader delivered in spades. It was the reason to buy a GameCube at launch. Period.
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Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (N64)
We might take some heat for this, but screw it. Shadows of the Empire was awesome. The Battle of Hoth level alone ranks as one of our fondest gaming memories ever. We’d chose it over Super Mario 64 any day. Much love!
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Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES, Genesis)
With incredibly catchy music, a vivid art style and addictive gameplay, Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a classic we return to even to this day. We’re still trying to beat the damn thing, honestly.
