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]