Star Wars is set to embrace a brand new chapter in both their TV and movie branches respectively, but their video games division is also following the lead. Lucasfilm announced a recent rebranding effort for its game publishing efforts by establishing a new name in the form of Lucasfilm Games .
The aforementioned title will serve as the company's branding moving forward, promising more reveals down the line to effectively tell more stories in the realm of gaming. In addition, this new venture also provides more opportunities for Lucasfilm to develop more partnerships with other studios.
Not much is known when Lucasfilm will start revealing more projects, but the company unveiled that they are keeping their eye “towards the future.” Now, it seems that the first step has surfaced since a recently-announced offering from Lucasfilm Games has been revealed.
CONFIRMATION
Wired shared in a report that Lucasfilm Games is “entering a partnership” with Ubisoft to create an open-world Star Wars game.
The outlet also revealed that it will be developed by Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment, “marking the first time” that a non-EA company has produced a Star Wars video game since Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm back in 2012.
In a statement, Sean Shoptaw, senior vice president of Global Games and Interactive Experiences at Disney, pointed out that EA will continue to serve as a “very strategic and important partner" for Lucasfilm Games.
“EA has been and will continue to be a very strategic and important partner for us now and going forward. But we did feel like there's room for others.”
Yves Guillemot, cofounder and CEO of Ubisoft, explained why they chose to partner with Lucasfilm Games to create a one-of-a-kind gaming experience:
“The Star Wars galaxy is an amazing source of motivation for our teams to innovate and push the boundaries of our medium. Building new worlds, characters and stories that will become lasting parts of the Star Wars lore is an incredible opportunity for us, and we are excited to have our Ubisoft Massive studio working closely with Lucasfilm Games to create an original Star Wars adventure that is different from anything that has been done before.”
Meanwhile, Kathleen Kennedy of Lucasfilm looks forward to "continuing the wonderful legacy" of Star Wars game, pointing out that it will allow the company to "pursue fresh and exciting directions" in telling more compelling stories set in famous space epic.
“As we look to the next 50 years of Lucasfilm, we look forward to continuing the wonderful legacy in games, which has introduced so many memorable characters and stories. These new collaborations will allow the Lucasfilm Games team to pursue fresh and exciting directions in the storytelling of Star Wars and Indiana Jones in imaginative and different ways than those explored by our films.”
Aside from the partnership, no other details involving gameplay and the title's place in the Star Wars timeline were included.
Update : Lucasfilm Games officially announced their partnership with Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment on their social media platforms. The studio described the brand new Star Wars adventure as a "story-driven" title.
WHAT THIS MEANS
As it is, this is an exciting development for hardcore Star Wars gamers. The prospect of finally seeing a full-blown open-world Star Wars game should be enough to entice fans, but admittedly, it wasn't an easy thing to accomplish.
In February 2020, EA canceled a game under the codename, Project Viking. This project was heavily rumored to be an open-world game derived from the Battlefront series under the same company. This left fans disappointed, but this recent announcement could at least tide them over.
Creating a game set in the world of Star Wars is not easy, but the possibilities are endless due to the vast array of planets, characters, and even storylines that the developers can expand. It's a given that it will be a while before the launch of this anticipated title, but the wait might very well be worth it due to the continued promise of quality from Lucasfilm Games.
The arrival of an open-world Star Wars game should serve as the first big step under the Lucasfilm Games banner, and it will be interesting to find out the studio's plans to redefine the gaming experience of the galaxy far, far, away going forward.
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