Electronic Arts Signs Exclusive Star Wars Game Deal With Disney

[Atmos Duality]

After the TORtanic sunk, you'd think they would learn.
Two possibilities:
1) The new games are going to lead into the new trilogy or new games based on the trilogy
2) The new games are being made to re-prep buzz about Star Wars (similar to how the remastered films in the mid-late 90s lead into the prequels)

In either case, it's EA handling it.
So apart from being overproduced and attached to Origin & consoles, there's no other guarantees.

Personally, I suspect they will churn out the usual glut of polished turds EA produces.

Considering that the most modern Star Wars game I own is still Galactic Battlegrounds (well, I just recently acquired Battlefront II on Steam, so, that.) I'm not terribly worried about missing out here.

Especially since I know that EA doesn't have the balls to create another good X-Wing/TIE Fighter game.
It's not mainstream enough.

So I assume this means Obsidian's proposed Star Wars game isn't happening.

Damn...

And that's the only bit of relevant information I got out of this topic.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Wow, glad to see no one is throwing about any knee-jerk reactions here. Yes, EA has pulled some stupid s*** in the past couple of years, but let's think about the studios that they're handing the franchise off to, and what games will be handled by them.

We have DICE, which is the obvious contender to develop Battlefront 3. As someone who absolutely loved the early BF games, and Battlefield 3, I'm not too concerned about them getting their hands on the Battlefront IP. We're not going to see a super gritty, color drained Battlefront game, as Battlefield is that way simply because it's stylized, and that's the direction they're taking it in. There's a lot to learn from the style and color pallets of Battlefront 1 & 2, and I'm sure that DICE will realize this when/if they begin development. Also, they would be the most likely of the three studios to develop sequels to Republic Commando.

Visceral could easily also pick up Republic Commando, but I really see them picking up StarWars 1313 where it left off. The seedy underbelly vibe of the game fits with the darker themes of the Dead Space franchise, and their experience with 3rd Person shooter mechanics is the strongest of the three teams. What new games would come out of Visceral, I'm not sure. There are a lot of space combat games that are desperately crying out for sequels, but whether they would be picked up by Visceral who, as a studio is still in its infancy and not locked into a specific genre of video games, or by DICE who will have to have some experience under their belt with space combat to make a true sequel to BF2, is uncertain.

Bioware is arguably the most confusing of the three in terms of where their projects will take them. We'll probably see some KoToR-esque sequels to past franchises out of them, alongside continued development of The Old Republic until they run that into the ground. I'm unsure what new IP's will come out of their studios, as all I've ever known them for is Action-RPG's, but they definitely have the talent (at least outside of the writing department), to develop various types of titles.

All in all, we're talking about three well received (for the most part) studios with a bit of a troubled past in some regard, but all more than willing to handle new and old IP's within the Star Wars universe.

TL;DR: Let's put those torches and pitchforks on layaway until we see some actual product.

As I said when my friend posted about this on Facebook earlier, DICE making a battlefront game could turn out awesome. I don't have much faith in post-buyout Bioware, and I can't really comment on Visceral, having never played one of their games, but I still have some faith in DICE, even if their games have been dumbed down since Battlefield 2. Since Battlefront was never any smarter than Battlefield 1942, and since the Battlefield games post-2 are are still about as complex as 1942 was, I have pretty high hopes for a Battlefront game from them.

Not much faith for the rest of the franchise (I mean, the kind of football games I like dried up after EA signed the exclusivity agreement with the NFL, because they go for sim instead of crazy arcade), but at least that should turn out pretty darned amazing if they go for it.

Edit: Not to mention, the last two good Star Wars games were Battlefront II and KotOR 2. It's not like EA can do worse than Star Wars Kinect. A porn game starring Leia, Padme, and a bunch of Twilek slave girls would be more respectable than that.

 

[1337mokro]

For anyone that want's to use it.

http://nooooooooooooooo.com

 

[weirdee]

Because when you're done with Lucasarts, you gotta go with a clear winner who knows how to respect a brand...

 

[rasputin0009]

Battlefront 3 could become the spiritual successor to Battlefield 2143. Oh, how I'd love to see the return of Titans.

It's a definite no-brainer for DICE to make Battlefront 3 since the Battlefront series already heavily takes from Battlefield (almost to the point of copyright infringing). Plus they could just reskin the shit out of BF4. But, knowing DICE, they'd probably start fresh.

 

[Jedi-Hunter4]

User's on this site are so predictable with their attitudes towards EA it's literally becoming a cliche in itself.

ie

"May the force be with you"
Force, in this case, being DRM, cease and desist orders, gagging clauses, review embargos and various other things that keep lawyers in business.

?You?re all clear, kid! Now let?s blow this thing and go home!?
This is what will need to be said after every launch of a new EA/Disney/Star Wars game.

"Mos Eisley spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.?
This will be entirely dependant on EA's outsourcing policies.

"It's a trap!"
Which is just self explanatory.

"What a piece of junk"
Most gamer's reactions to any Star Wars game EA puts out.

Cue slow clap.......real original guys.

This deal opens up possibility's in my eyes, big ones I think for allot of fans are that 1313 may still get finished (can you really imagine the house of mouse finishing off this supposedly gritty take on star wars?) and there is now the possibility battlefront 3 may also be made. Neither of which were on the table before this deal.

Screw DRM if EA give me the first decent Star Wars game in a long time, I'll bend over and take it and thank them for their time after.

Whether it pans out good or bad is tbd in my eyes. EA have made some truly awesome games over the years and they are made up of a collective of 1000's of people, yes they have made some questionable decisions in recent years, but I see no reason that can't change. SO fed up with the continual hate on here, a fair amount I suspect band wagon, grow up escapists an stop insta-damming everything. It's getting really old.

 

[HellbirdIV]

Seriously people wait for the flippin games to be released before you put on your drama queen dress.

This. This. So much this. The exact same thing happened when the new movies were announced, people jumping up and down and crying "STAR WARS IS RUINED FOREVER!" for the 17th time.

Let's at least see what's going on before we start calling it the apocalypse, yeah?

 

[ThunderCavalier]

fml

fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fmlfml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml fml

I have no goddamn insightful or witty thing to say here. Disney just sold off Star Wars gaming rights to EA. You know, worst company in America? Microtransactions up the ass? Butchers Single Player experiences for pay-to-play Multiplayer bullcrap?

Game over, man. Game over!

*hides underneath the bed with my copy of KOTOR*

 

[Frostbite3789]

I came here for the sadness and rage. And was not disappointed. Good show everyone!

 

[Oly J]

well if there was ever a time for this, it's now http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/

EDIT: damn, ninja'd

seriously though, having lost their CEO since their last major game release (correct me if I'm wrong on that) maybe EA will be, at least less blatant in their shitty business practices, I doubt it though

additionally, if this actually gets some good Star Wars games out there, I'll accept EA's involvement as a necessary evil, personally though it's unlikely I really want a new Rogue Squadron game, and seemingly unlike most, I liked The Force Unleashed (the first one anyway) and I too, would really like to see Battlefront 3, EA don't put always-on restrictions on console games right?....right?

 

[Gormech]

And so, to destroy the great Space Saga that was rivaled only by the Great Trek, two evils joined forces to finally put an end to that which fans had loved for so long. Now, nothing can stand in their way as one after another, spinoffs and cash-grab merchandise advertisements can be spewed forth in the guise of the next Buzz Lightyear.

 

[GAunderrated]

They have been whoring out the star wars license so much lately it is fitting they gave it to the biggest whore of them all (EA).

Can't wait for Battlefront 3 to be released with Day 1 DLC, microtransactions, and always on DRM!

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

So I assume this means Obsidian's proposed Star Wars game isn't happening.

Damn...

this is about all i read from that.

Just..*sigh* EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS?

fucking disney, if there ever was a moment when my eyebrow was twitching, it is now. battlefront 3 (which was almost done) is going to be scrapped into a reskin of battlefield 3 with microtransactions and DLC up the ass with always online drm horseshit.

lets not even get started on a TOR offshoot or them attempting a tie fighter game...

 

[Something Amyss]

"May the force be with you"
Force, in this case, being DRM, cease and desist orders, gagging clauses, review embargos and various other things that keep lawyers in business.

All of which ARE forms of force....>.>

 

[Callate]

On the one hand, honestly, the last few Star Wars-themed games out of LucasArts were pretty weak.

On the other, nothing short of KOTOR III would tempt me to buy anything from EA at this point; they've burned too many bridges. I'm seriously not sure what they told Disney (or who got slipped a briefcase full of cash), but if you wanted to restore credibility to a tarnished brand, this was not the way to go.

It's like... You have a painter who's making this incredible canvas. And every few weeks you go to see what he's doing, and it becomes a welcome part of your day. Several years later, his work becomes more erratic, until one day you come in to find him stomping up and down on it with shoes covered with ink, and the gallery owner quietly escorts him out of the building.

Then they hire someone to create a series of one-offs based on the canvas, and they're spending lots of time around the old painting, which still has a lot of fans. But you can't help but notice that the guy they hired is less known for painting than for arson.

 

[major_chaos]

Especially since I know that EA doesn't have the balls to create another good X-Wing/TIE Fighter game.
It's not mainstream enough.

And after all the years of disregarding everything the fans wanted, you really think Lucasarts was going to?

OT:
Shockingly the escapist is overreacting to an article that mentions EA. I swear the next update to Origin could come with free hookers and a car and people would still find some way to complain.

 

[Atmos Duality]

And after all the years of disregarding everything the fans wanted, you really think Lucasarts was going to?

I knew LucasArts wasn't going to, and there's no reason to suspect that EA is going to change that.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Doesn't Disney know how much people hate EA right now? The execs at Disney seem to want to spend all the "Marvel Movie Success" goodwill as fast as they can.