After Closing Down LucasArts, Disney Has Given EA Exclusive Rights For Star Wars Games
“I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.” These words from Obi-Wan Kenobi could not be a more apt description for what many Star Wars gamers are undoubtedly thinking right now. After closing down LucasArts last month, Disney (what many would consider an evil empire in its own right) has sold the rights to make Star Wars games to EA.
The studios in particular that will be making new Star Wars games include a veteran to the universe, as well as a couple new guys. BioWare, the makers of Star Wars: The Old Republic as well as the Knights of the Old Republic will be continuing its work on new Star Wars games, and will be joined by DICE (makers of Battlefield) and Visceral (makers of Dead Space). All in all, EA will be handling games for the “core gaming audience” while Disney focuses its efforts on more casual fare, from mobile devices, to social media, and tablets.
At this time there have been no announcements for any projects. That means games like Star Wars 1313 and Star Wars: First Assault are still up in the air as to whether they’ll see the light of day or not. My guess is EA will take a look at where those projects are at and see if it’ll be worth their time to try and finish them up, or if it’ll be better to just scrap them and start fresh with something else. I’m sure we’ll hear something soon enough.
