Disney, Lucasfilm Partner With EA For "The Future Of Star Wars Gaming"
StarWars.com has just announced that Lucasfilm will be entering into a long-term partnership with Electronic Arts to produce Star Wars video games for a variety of platforms. The deal will involve game development contributions from EA's DICE, Visceral, and BioWare teams.
Right after The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm, company executives expressed interest in using the Star Wars intellectual property to target new gaming platforms. That worried some hardcore gamers who thought that PC gaming was no longer a priority for LucasArts. Then, when Disney closed LucasArts on April 3rd of this year, anxiety levels among Star Wars gamers rose even higher.
Today's announcement will be seen as welcome news by that community. The release promises that "EA studios will develop for the core Star Wars gaming audience" while the House of Mouse's internal game designers at Disney Interactive "will focus on delivering new Star Wars games for casual audiences on mobile, social, tablet, and online gaming platforms."
Check out the full announcement below:
May 06, 2013
Today it was announced that Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney Interactive are entering into a multi-year, multi-title exclusive licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) for the creation of new high quality Star Wars games spanning multiple genres for console, PC, mobile, and tablets.
Industry leaders and creators of best-in-class blockbuster games, the development and publishing teams at EA will collaborate with the creative teams at Lucasfilm to provide audiences with all-new gaming experiences set in the ever-expanding Star Wars galaxy. As part of the agreement, EA studio teams DICE (Battlefield series) and Visceral (Dead Space series) will join BioWare (Mass Effect series, Star Wars: The Old Republic) in the development of new Star Wars games.
"Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come," said Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm. "When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear."
While EA studios will develop for the core Star Wars gaming audience, Disney Interactive will focus on delivering new Star Wars games for casual audiences on mobile, social, tablet, and online gaming platforms.
"This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come," said John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive. "Collaborating with one of the world's premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to fans around the world."
"Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe," said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. "Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay."
More information, including titles in development, will be announced in the coming months. Continue to check StarWars.com for updates on the future of Star Wars gaming.
StarWars.com has just announced that Lucasfilm will be entering into a long-term partnership with Electronic Arts to produce Star Wars video games for a variety of platforms. The deal will involve game development contributions from EA's DICE, Visceral, and BioWare teams.
Right after The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm, company executives expressed interest in using the Star Wars intellectual property to target new gaming platforms. That worried some hardcore gamers who thought that PC gaming was no longer a priority for LucasArts. Then, when Disney closed LucasArts on April 3rd of this year, anxiety levels among Star Wars gamers rose even higher.
Today's announcement will be seen as welcome news by that community. The release promises that "EA studios will develop for the core Star Wars gaming audience" while the House of Mouse's internal game designers at Disney Interactive "will focus on delivering new Star Wars games for casual audiences on mobile, social, tablet, and online gaming platforms."
Check out the full announcement below:
Electronic Arts Selected for Multi-Year Agreement for the Future of Star Wars Gaming
May 06, 2013
Today it was announced that Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney Interactive are entering into a multi-year, multi-title exclusive licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) for the creation of new high quality Star Wars games spanning multiple genres for console, PC, mobile, and tablets.
Industry leaders and creators of best-in-class blockbuster games, the development and publishing teams at EA will collaborate with the creative teams at Lucasfilm to provide audiences with all-new gaming experiences set in the ever-expanding Star Wars galaxy. As part of the agreement, EA studio teams DICE (Battlefield series) and Visceral (Dead Space series) will join BioWare (Mass Effect series, Star Wars: The Old Republic) in the development of new Star Wars games.
"Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come," said Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm. "When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear."
While EA studios will develop for the core Star Wars gaming audience, Disney Interactive will focus on delivering new Star Wars games for casual audiences on mobile, social, tablet, and online gaming platforms.
"This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come," said John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive. "Collaborating with one of the world's premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to fans around the world."
"Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe," said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. "Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay."
More information, including titles in development, will be announced in the coming months. Continue to check StarWars.com for updates on the future of Star Wars gaming.
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