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It’s difficult to deny that Star Wars video games have been an important part of gaming history — a staple of LucasArts‘ former glory during the 1990s and early 2000s. Despite how bad things got – see: Kinect Star Wars - no one could have guessed Disney would drop the axe on the developer shortly after acquiring the multi-billion dollar Star Wars franchise. After a brief period of uncertainty, however, it appears a new hope may very well be on the horizon.
The Walt Disney Company and Electronic Arts have just announced that a new multi-year partnership has formed, whereby EA will develop and publish new Star Wars titles for various platforms. Not only that, but its subsidiaries will also be involved in development, which may breath new life into several fan-favorite game series – not the least of which being the fabled Battlefront 3.
Frank Gibeau, EA Labels President:
“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe. 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.”
This is big news indeed, considering E3 is just around the corner. While it’s too early to tell quite yet, the thought of DICE taking over Battlefront 3 is enough to set fans’ hearts racing – especially after the recent breathtaking preview of Battlefield 4 released only a few weeks ago. We’ve only been asking for it for a long time on Game Rant. Despite EA itself taking some flak recently, more important is the opportunities have been made available to DICE, Visceral and BioWare.
Back in October, Disney purchased LucasFilm and the rights to Star Wars, totaling $4 billion. Since then, it has shared information about a future film trilogy for the franchise, and more recently closed down development from LucasArts. While it has been making bold moves with the company, humbly founded in 1971 by film legend George Lucas, they are arguably justified.
With Gibeau specifically referencing “all new stories,” does that mean there is no hope for a Star Wars 1313 revival or BioWare delivering a non-MMO installment of Knights of the Old Republic? Is it better for them all to develop new properties? Should they even bother with movie tie-ins come time for Star Wars Episode VI hitting theaters in 2015?