In a move that I’d classify as ‘good’, because I feel EA have tended to create engaging Star Wars games for adults and Disney have tended to make un-engaging games like Disney Infinity, Spectrobes, Epic Mickey, Toy Story 3, Pirates of the Caribbean, Prince Caspian, Brave and Pure (all of which I consider pretty poor), EA have released a press release to say that essentially Disney are going to let them develop the new Star Wars games and come-up with original stories for them.
Here’s what they had to say:
The Force is strong with this one.”
I love that line. It instantly transports me back to my childhood, to an epic world that had a powerful influence on my life. Like hundreds of millions of people, I am a true believer – someone who can’t get enough of the story, the culture, and the ethos of Star Wars.
Today, The Walt Disney Company has announced that they have chosen EA to create new Star Wars experiences for gamers worldwide.
The magic of Star Wars is interwoven into the worlds, characters, planets and amazing battles. It is a universe that lends itself perfectly to gaming. Our agreement unlocks a whole new future of Star Wars games that will span consoles, PCs, tablets, mobile and more.
While we don’t have any details to share today on specific titles, our development teams are already brimming with design ideas. The EA Studios that will develop these games are some of the most innovative and popular creative teams in the world, and include DICE and Visceral, in addition to the BioWare team, which is already developing for the Star Wars franchise. These imaginative teams will make games that may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories. Powering it all will be the Frostbite 3 development engine – guaranteeing incredible graphic fidelity, environments and characters.
We have lots of ideas, but we want to hear from you. Tell us what kind of games you want to play. Send us your suggestions and tag @EA_DICE @VisceralGames @BioWare and #starwarsnextgen.
This Press Release was followed up with some exciting words from Patrick Soderlund, vice president of EA Games and DICE’s former director, at gamescon who said that he aims to ensure these new games have the same effect on gamers as the Game of The Year Batman games did:
“The most important thing for me is that we take the license of Star Wars and draw games to be left open-mouthed, “said the executive. ”We need to do with this that [ Batman: Arkham Asylum ] did for the Batman license. “
Soderlund added that DICE studio which incidentally announced Star Wars: Battlefront at E3, taking inspiration from all previous games in the franchise and of course, the speeder and the AT-AT that showed in the teaser June, will in the title.
“We do not rule anything.’re Watching the old games. We have access to everything that was done during the era Lucas Arts. But we definitely want to make our own way.” He said.
Star Wars: Battlefront tentatively debut until 2015, but that’s not the only title in the series that EA is developing. Visceral Games ( Dead Space ) is also working on another game in the franchise.
So, what do you guys think: right decision?
Jennie Ivins