EA and LucasFilm have signed an exclusive deal which will see Star Wars games being developed by Battlefield maker DICE, Dead Space producer Visceral and Star Wars The Old Republic and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic developer BioWare.
LucasFilm's president Kathleen Kennedy commented "Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come. When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear.
EA Labels President Frank Gibeau added "Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe. Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay."
The EA deal follows the closure of long-time game publisher LucasArts which was shuttered last month following the takeover of Lucas by Disney last year. All production on Star Wars titles already in development, including Star Wars 1313, was shelved as part of LucasArts' closure.
More information on the Star Wars games in development will be revealed over the coming months though it would appear that all games involved will be next-gen titles as EA's Origin Twitter account asked:
Disney grants EA license for next-gen Star Wars games. What are you hoping to see? @ea_dice @visceralgames @bioware #starwarsnextgen
— Origin (@OriginInsider) May 6, 2013
DICE also Tweeted the #StarWarsNextGen trend:
The force is strong in this one#starwarsnextgen #starwars twitter.com/EA_DICE/status…
— EA_DICE (@EA_DICE) May 6, 2013
As did BioWare and Visceral.
Disney grants EA license for next-gen Star Wars games for console, PC, tablet, mobile. @ea_dice @visceralgames @bioware #starwarsnextgen
— BioWare (@bioware) May 6, 2013
What would you like to play in a galaxy far, far away? starwars.com/news/electroni… #starwarsnextgen
— Visceral Games (@VisceralGames) May 6, 2013
