Shocking the gaming world earlier today, the newly-rebranded Lucasfilm Games announced it would be working with Ubisoft to develop an open-world experience set in the Star Wars universe. The reveal was a shock to many considering it'll be one of the first games in the franchise since 2013 to not have any EA involvement, with the company's exclusive deal with the IP officially coming to a close.
However, it seems Lucasfilm Games' decision to offer the Star Wars license to new developers won't bar EA from developing future games within the franchise. As reported by IGN, a statement from EA claims that the company will continue working with Star Wars for "years to come," developing new experiences set in the franchise's expansive universe.
"We are proud of our long-standing collaboration with Lucasfilm Games," the statement reads, celebrating the fact that the studio has "created some of the most successful games in the history of the Star Wars franchise." It continues, promising fans that the teams over at the publisher are ready to develop more "exciting experiences for players to enjoy." While it seems Lucasfilm is gathering fresh talent for future games, already enlisting the help of Ubisoft and Bethesda, EA will get to continue working alongside Lucasfilm and expanding its increasing library of Star Wars tie-ins.
Over its time working on Star Wars, EA has published a number of popular blockbuster releases, rebooting Star Wars Battlefront and following it up with Star Wars Battlefront 2, as well as allowing players to take to the sky in daring space battles through Star Wars Squadrons. However, the crowning jewel of their time with the franchise is likely Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, with Respawn Entertainment creating a narrative-focused single-player adventure set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. With EA declaring the game was the first in a franchise last year, it seems likely that part of EA's future involvement with the IP will be working alongside Respawn to develop a follow-up.
Whatever EA's part in Star Wars' future will be, it seems it'll begin this year, with Lucasfilm announcing the company will be revealing a new project set in the universe further into 2021. Lucasfilm Games hasn't been shy during its short tenure as a publisher, revealing yesterday that it would also be working on an Indiana Jones video game with Wolfenstein developer Machine Games at the helm. The company is already looking to be developing some huge projects, so there's no doubt it'll be a massive name in the years to come.
Source: IGN