EA has signed what it calls a "new multi-year exclusive licensing agreement" with Disney to make new games based on the Star Wars characters and storylines.
But while EA gets the ability to make what is referred to titles for the "core gaming audience, spanning all interactive platforms and the most popular game genres", Disney is retaining "certain rights" for mobile, social, tablet and online games.
EA said that its team at BioWare will continue to develop Star Wars games (it previously developed Star Wars: The Old Republic), while DICE in Sweden and Visceral in California will also work on new games.
It doesn't appear that EA has access to direct licences for the forthcoming Star Wars films, due from 2015 however.
New hope
"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 our fans around the world."
"Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe," said EA Labels president Frank Gibeau.
"The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay."
[source: BusinessWire]
News
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Related Articles
Top Stories
Feature
May 20th, 2024
Hot Five: AppLovin revenue surges 48% Y/Y, Plarium and Big Fish up for sale, and a look inside Merge Mansion's growth
Feature
May 20th, 2024
55 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Events
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
For The Win 2024 | Europe | May 29th |