Electronic Arts Signs Exclusive Star Wars Game Deal With Disney

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
Electronic Arts Signs Exclusive Star Wars Game Deal With Disney


DICE and Visceral will join BioWare in developing all-new games for the Star Wars franchise.

You might think that in the wake of the The Old Republic debacle, Electronic Arts would be a bit gun-shy about signing a long-term deal with the Disney behemoth that commits some of its best-known studios to creating even more Star Wars games. But you would be wrong! Because that's exactly what EA has done.

Specifics, as usual, are in short supply but the bottom line is that the companies have signed a "multi-year exclusive licensing agreement" in which EA will develop "core" games "spanning all interactive platforms and the most popular game genres," while Disney retains development rights for mobile, social, tablet and online Star Wars games.

"Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe," EA Labels President Frank Gibeau said in a statement. "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 move confirms that Disney's decision to pull the plug on LucasArts did not signal a loss of interest in the videogame scene, but rather a desire to shift responsibility for the development of future Star Wars games into the hands of a company with some actual expertise in the field. But it's decision to team with EA - or actually, EA's willingness to sign on the dotted line - is a little puzzling. In some ways, it's a natural fit; BioWare's Knights of the Old Republic is one of the most well-regarded Star Wars games to come out in the past decade. But BioWare is also the studio responsible for one of the most infamous (and expensive) videogame train wrecks of all time, the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. It's also no secret that movie licenses aren't the gold mine they were once believed to be, as anyone who used to work at THQ can attest.

Even so, and despite everything that's happened post-Jedi, the Star Wars brand carries a powerful cachet and Gibeau said that while some of the games developed by EA "may borrow from films," they will nonetheless "be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay." Neither company commented on the possibility that the deal could resurrect Star Wars 1313, which fell victim [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123055-Disney-Closes-LucasArts] to the LucasArts closure, but given how much people were looking forward to it, it probably wouldn't be a bad place to start. Neither would, say, a new TIE Fighter - just something to think about if anyone from EA happens to be reading.


Permalink
 

Chrono212

Fluttershy has a mean K:DR
May 19, 2009
1,846
0
0
"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.
 

TWEWYFan

New member
Mar 22, 2012
343
0
0
Disney is giving Star Wars to Electronic "We kill everything we get our hands on" Arts?
 

Andy Shandy

Fucked if I know
Jun 7, 2010
4,797
0
0
You know, as someone whose main experience of the Star Wars universe is through the games (never seen the films), I really couldn't care less if EA "ruins the franchise". But there is potential for greatness there. Visceral good with what I'd call "action stuff", which could make for fantastic lightsaber duels and such, especially with how good they are with the more gory side of things. DICE, well, you've got your destructo-physics sorted, which could really help to show the impact of various abilities have on the environment and Bioware are (usually) a team of good writers.

So what you want is a "DICE! VISCERAL! BIOWARE! WITH OUR POWERS COMBINED WE ARE CAPTAIN AWESOME STAR WARS GAME!" deal. What'll probably happen though is 3 decent games, micro-transactioned out the ass, and me weeping over the continued disappearance of Mirror's Edge 2.
 

Sealpower

New member
Jun 7, 2010
172
0
0
Dice...

So we'll get a crappy battlefield-y game with a star wars theme... I guess you guys will get your Battlefront 3 after all!

[/barely disguised irony]
 

BrotherRool

New member
Oct 31, 2008
3,834
0
0
Oh screw you EA. I defended you all this year and last, I forgave your mistakes and at the very least didn't think you were any worse than a company like Activision.



But this is the last straw. You better be hiring out to independents. If you were the company who destroyed the Obsidian Star Wars RPG, I am not going to forgive you
 

templar1138a

New member
Dec 1, 2010
894
0
0
Andy Chalk said:
... just something to think about if anyone from EA happens to be reading.
They're not.

Also, TOR is an awesome game. The problem is that it doesn't have a single-player mode.

As for games EA might make with this agreement, I will put them under the same scrutiny I subject all other games to. And the first step in that process is for the games to be announced.
 

Chrono212

Fluttershy has a mean K:DR
May 19, 2009
1,846
0
0
DVS BSTrD said:
Chrono212 said:
"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.
?That?s no moon, it?s an EA executive's pay cheque!?
 

MorganL4

Person
May 1, 2008
1,364
0
0

That was the first thing to come to my mind when I read this.....


I just thought of something.... If EA does this, what will BF3 stand for? Battlefield 3 or Battlefront 3? Will we need to do SWBF3?
 

Zeraki

WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOOOOOOR!?
Legacy
Feb 9, 2009
1,615
45
53
New Jersey
Country
United States
Gender
Male



Well there goes any interest I could possibly have for any new Star Wars games. I stopped giving EA money a long time ago.
 

Sehnsucht Engel

New member
Apr 18, 2009
1,890
0
0
Nurb said:
Stop! Stop! Star Wars is already dead!

lol. This is so fitting.

OT: I didn't have that much of a problem with Disney making new movies, but why the fuck do they have to involve EA.
 

Roxas1359

Burn, Burn it All!
Aug 8, 2009
33,758
1
0
...I was having a glorious day until I saw this. D:
I mean, I had to give a special occasion speech in Com 103 so I decided to do a congratulations speech for EA on winning the golden poo two years in a row, then this happens...T^T