Disney Plans New ‘Star Wars’ Games Through Electronic Arts
4 views - published on May 7th, 2013 in Disney News tagged Disney, disney star wars, movies, star wars
The Force is now with Electronic Arts.
The second largest videogame publisher has sealed down an disdainful multi-year understanding to furnish “Star Wars” games for all platforms.
Deal comes a month after Lucasfilm laid off many of a growth and prolongation staff during LucasArts, that oversaw “Star Wars” and other games.
While Disney has pronounced it will concentration many of a interactive business on games for mobile apps and amicable networks like Facebook, “Star Wars” is being treated as an wholly opposite animal.
New games will be formed on “Star Wars” characters and storylines for what a companies call “a core gaming audience” — which, in this case, means mostly group in their 30s.
Disney will keep certain rights to rise new titles for a mobile, social, inscription and online diversion categories directed during younger auds. First games will expected be prepared someday in 2015, around a recover of J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII.”
“This agreement demonstrates a joining to formulating peculiarity diversion practice that expostulate a recognition of a ‘Star Wars’ authorization for years to come,” pronounced John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive. “Collaborating with one of a world’s premier diversion developers will concede us to move an extraordinary portfolio of new ‘Star Wars’ titles to a fans around a world.”
EA isn’t new to a “Star Wars” franchise.
It published BioWare’s “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It was a many costly diversion constructed when it launched in 2011, with a $150 million pricetag, though has struggled to beget a vast fanbase. It has given embraced a free-to-play indication rather than rest on monthly subscriptions.
Although financial terms of a understanding were not disclosed, Disney clearly found a gamemaker fervent to bombard out a large chartering price to secure a “Star Wars” authorization and assistance grow a business that’s struggled in new years.
LucasArts warranted only $55 million mostly from a “Star Wars” titles, according to NPD. Last month, LucasArts pulled a block on “Star Wars 1313,” while “Star Wars: First Assault” was canceled before that. Deal enables Disney’s interactive group to concentration on other internally grown tentpole titles like a arriving “Disney Infinity,” that mixes toys with normal videogame-play.
DICE and Visceral will furnish new games, while BioWare will continue to concentration on “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” pronounced EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau. EA’s website already is seeking “Star Wars” fans to advise ideas for new games. “We have lots of ideas, though we wish to hear from you,” it said.
DICE is best famous for a work on EA’s “Battlefield” franchise, that competes with Activision’s “Call of Duty” games, while Visceral is behind a sci-fi fear array “Dead Space.”
“Every developer dreams of formulating games for a ‘Star Wars’ universe,” Gibeau said. “The new practice we emanate might steal from films, though a games will be wholly strange with all new stories and gameplay.”