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A new Star Wars RTS 27 Feb, 2001 / Comments: 10

By Jake


Italian gaming site Multiplayer.it has posted a press release (original Italian release here) announcing an alliance bvetween LucasArts and Ensemble Studios (the creators of Age of Empires and Age of Kings - mmmm) to produce a realtime strategy game based in the Star Wars universe. The game, titled Star Wars: Battlegrounds, continues LEC's trend of outsourcing much of the work on Star Wars titles to proven developers like Factor 5 (Rogue Squadron, Battle for Naboo) and Luxoflux (Demolition). If this is indeed the game that was hinted at being officially announced later today we should be seeing some screenshots and more details shortly.

Update (again): Better late than never (sorry), here's a portion from the official press release from LucasArts.com:

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. -- February 27, 2001 -- LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC today announced a strategic alliance with Ensemble Studios to develop a new and compelling Real Time Strategy (RTS) franchise for the digital interactive gaming market. The initial release from this cooperative venture, Star Wars Battleground, will be built upon PC-based technology created by Ensemble and used in the highly acclaimed Age of Empires series. Combining the design talents of LucasArts and Ensemble -- including noted designer Bruce Shelley -- Star Wars Battleground will build upon Ensemble's proprietary engine technology to usher in a new phase in the evolution of the RTS game. Star Wars Battleground is expected to release fall 2001.

Future ventures with LucasArts are envisaged to encompass new technologies developed by Ensemble, weaving increasingly innovative engineering into the core premise of interactive strategic warfare within the Star Wars universe.

Source: Shacknews

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10 Comments

  • Swordmaster on 01 Mar, 2001, 08:29…
    The actual press release is available at lucasarts.com, too. No need for Italian-English translations. ;)
  • Bone Man on 28 Feb, 2001, 19:44…
    GRAGHHHHHHHH!!!!! another friggin' SW game!
  • tabacco on 28 Feb, 2001, 02:26…
    So what happened to the sequel for a non-SW game that was supposed to be announced?
  • TaXicab on 28 Feb, 2001, 02:36…
    They never said they were announcing a non Starwars game today, just that one was in the works, and word has it that we wont hear about it until E3, even longer for it to come out! bummer :(
  • tabacco on 28 Feb, 2001, 04:55…
    Ah, whoops. Guess I misinterpreted that post. Thanks :)
  • Swordmaster on 01 Mar, 2001, 08:30…
    Yeah, the report only said that they were going to announce a PC title on the 27th. The non-Star Wars themed game is probably announced at E3 (unless it leaks out like EMI did).
  • Jake on 27 Feb, 2001, 23:26…
    "Gaming is evolving rapidly and fewer massively successful games are stumbled upon by accident." - Simon Jeffery. Wow speaking of exceptionally bleak outlook for risk taking original titles. Jesus.
  • Swordmaster on 01 Mar, 2001, 08:35…
    No more Grim Fandangos. Damn! (Disclaimer: the above message only refers to Grim Fandango as being a risky, original title. The individual behind this message does not want to see a sequel to Grim Fandango per se.)
  • spaff on 27 Feb, 2001, 22:20…
    heh what about episode2? :P
  • El_Pollo_Diablo on 27 Feb, 2001, 22:04…
    As long as its not based on Episod I and its nothing like Force Commander, I'll buy it