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We're probably all about EA 06 May, 2013 / 19 comments

Yeah, so this happened.

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.

"Exclusive"!? Holy sith.

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."


Source: Star Wars Official Site

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19 Comments

  • Avatar
    Melancholick on 10 May, 2013, 00:38…
    Apology accepted. And for the record, you're probably right.
  • Avatar
    Gov. Phatt on 09 May, 2013, 13:30…

    Melancholick

    Gov. Phatt

    Melancholick

    So, in essence:

    "Back up my speculation with speculation of your own."

    Seems legit.



    Isn't it all speculation, unless you have some exclusive access to Disney corporate strategy? And as I said, if you do have that exclusive info, please fill us in on the facts.



    Right. And conversely, as JP alluded to in his response, if you have even the slightest amount of evidence to support your original assertions--aside from "I've read two and a half posts about it, so therefore I have clear and present confirmation about Disney's current and future plans for the Indiana Jones IP--please feel free to enlighten all of us, aside from ducking and dodging the fact that you don't have the slightest insight into what their actual intentions are, either.

    Points for eating your own tail, though.



    Oh, please forgive me for speculating on a fan message board, because nobody ever does that, ever. I should've known everything posted here needs to be confirmed by multiple sources and subject to stringent editorial review. How silly of me.

    If all Disney ever talks about is developing innumerable Star Wars products and won't even acknowledge the existence of the other properties, it doesn't indicate that they have grand plans for those properties. If they fail to make even a simple mention of them, it doesn't convey much confidence that they have amazing ideas in the works to develop them further.

    But, of course, that is just more speculation which is apparently forbidden here. So, apologies, once again.
  • Avatar
    Melancholick on 08 May, 2013, 17:49…

    Gov. Phatt

    Melancholick

    So, in essence:

    "Back up my speculation with speculation of your own."

    Seems legit.



    Isn't it all speculation, unless you have some exclusive access to Disney corporate strategy? And as I said, if you do have that exclusive info, please fill us in on the facts.



    Right. And conversely, as JP alluded to in his response, if you have even the slightest amount of evidence to support your original assertions--aside from "I've read two and a half posts about it, so therefore I have clear and present confirmation about Disney's current and future plans for the Indiana Jones IP--please feel free to enlighten all of us, aside from ducking and dodging the fact that you don't have the slightest insight into what their actual intentions are, either.

    Points for eating your own tail, though.
  • Avatar
    OzzieMonkey on 07 May, 2013, 09:47…
    I was moreso thinking it could bring him back to DoubleFine as a consultant, not to actually make his ideas for MI3a come to fruition. That's not going to happen unless Disney become really desperate and just hand the rights over to him.
  • Avatar
    Bombadil on 07 May, 2013, 09:44…

    OzzieMonkey

    Besides, the possibility of a new MI there could lure Ron back...



    No, it wouldn't

    Ron

    Eleven - The only way I would or could make another Monkey Island is if I owned the IP. I've spent too much of my life creating and making things other people own. Not only would I allow you to make Monkey Island fan games, but I would encourage it. Label them as such, respect the world and the characters and don't claim they are canon. Of course, once the lawyers get ahold of that last sentence it will be seven pages long.



    http://grumpygamer.com/5777333
  • Avatar
    OzzieMonkey on 07 May, 2013, 04:55…
    I'm not exactly "in the know" when it comes to EA's reputation, I'm aware that they aren't popular, but not particular savvy on the ins and outs as to why that is. Having said that, I can't really develop a firms stance on this topic, but what I will say is this; Star Wars is being milked and no matter what company takes it, that won't change. Hopefully with the Star Wars matter out of the way, Disney can take a look at the old IP and be smart about the direction they take with them. Right now I can think of 3 options; DoubleFine, Telltale or sell them to their creators. The latter is near impossible but one can only dream. Unfortunately Telltale is going in a different direction and may not want to do more Monkey Island/Maniac Mansion/Sam and Max, so that leaves DoubleFine, and seeing how Broken Age is going, how could they say know. Besides, the possibility of a new MI there could lure Ron back...
  • Avatar
    Gov. Phatt on 07 May, 2013, 01:21…

    Melancholick

    So, in essence:

    "Back up my speculation with speculation of your own."

    Seems legit.



    Isn't it all speculation, unless you have some exclusive access to Disney corporate strategy? And as I said, if you do have that exclusive info, please fill us in on the facts.
  • Avatar
    Melancholick on 06 May, 2013, 23:51…
    So, in essence:

    "Back up my speculation with speculation of your own."

    Seems legit.
  • Avatar
    Gov. Phatt on 06 May, 2013, 23:48…

    jp-30

    Gov. Phatt

    Shmargin

    What about Indiana Jones and every other Lucas Arts IP?



    Disney never cared about the non-Star Wars properties. They have zero interest in them, apparently even the lucrative Indiana Jones franchise. Star Wars is everything to them and nothing else matters.

    Do you have anything other than speculation to back that up?



    What I have is what I've heard from Disney. If you are a Disney executive and have some inside information about what they intend to do with the non-Star Wars properties, please fill us in, because I have heard nothing from them. All they've talked about is Star Wars games, even in the LucasArts closure press release. They haven't acknowledged anything besides Star Wars, as far as I've seen. That indicates to me they really don't care about the other properties and only interested in producing Star Wars games. So, yes, it is speculation, but again, if you have anything that indicates otherwise, please share.
  • Avatar
    Melancholick on 06 May, 2013, 23:20…

    jp-30

    Gov. Phatt

    Shmargin

    What about Indiana Jones and every other Lucas Arts IP?



    Disney never cared about the non-Star Wars properties. They have zero interest in them, apparently even the lucrative Indiana Jones franchise. Star Wars is everything to them and nothing else matters.

    Do you have anything other than speculation to back that up?



    HEY. Stop trying to take the fun out of a good session of whinging with your "logic" and "facts," jp.
  • Avatar
    jp-30 on 06 May, 2013, 22:56…

    Gov. Phatt

    Shmargin

    What about Indiana Jones and every other Lucas Arts IP?



    Disney never cared about the non-Star Wars properties. They have zero interest in them, apparently even the lucrative Indiana Jones franchise. Star Wars is everything to them and nothing else matters.

    Do you have anything other than speculation to back that up?
  • Avatar
    Gov. Phatt on 06 May, 2013, 22:39…

    Shmargin

    What about Indiana Jones and every other Lucas Arts IP?



    Disney never cared about the non-Star Wars properties. They have zero interest in them, apparently even the lucrative Indiana Jones franchise. Star Wars is everything to them and nothing else matters.
  • Avatar
    Duffadash on 06 May, 2013, 22:36…

    jp-30

    jp-30

    Shmargin

    What about Indiana Jones and every other Lucas Arts IP?

    Still fair game, thankfully.

    Also, getting BioWare back behind a Star Wars non-MMO RPG is not the worst thing in the world.



    The Mass Effect series wasn't too bad, were they all done pre-buyout?



    You should remember that all the important personnel of Bioware left in 2012 after finishing ME3.
  • Avatar
    jp-30 on 06 May, 2013, 22:17…

    jp-30

    Shmargin

    What about Indiana Jones and every other Lucas Arts IP?

    Still fair game, thankfully.

    Also, getting BioWare back behind a Star Wars non-MMO RPG is not the worst thing in the world.



    The Mass Effect series wasn't too bad, were they all done pre-buyout?
  • Avatar
    DrMcCoy on 06 May, 2013, 22:14…
    "getting BioWare back behind a Star Wars non-MMO RPG is not the worst thing in the world"

    I'm going to quote you on that when said Star Wars non-MMO RPG comes out. Because it's going to be horrible.
    BioWare died when it was bought by EA.
  • Avatar
    jp-30 on 06 May, 2013, 21:52…

    Shmargin

    What about Indiana Jones and every other Lucas Arts IP?

    Still fair game, thankfully.

    Also, getting BioWare back behind a Star Wars non-MMO RPG is not the worst thing in the world.
  • Avatar
    Shmargin on 06 May, 2013, 21:50…
    What about Indiana Jones and every other Lucas Arts IP?
  • Avatar
    Melancholick on 06 May, 2013, 21:48…
    Sorry, but the thought of DICE getting its hands on a Battlefront game is enough to miraculously wash out the still-bitter flavors of the Free Radical screwjob.
  • Avatar
    DrMcCoy on 06 May, 2013, 21:42…
    Didn't take Disney long to desecrate that corpse.

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