Ubisoft-owned Massive Entertainment, the studio behind The Division series, is developing an open-world Star Wars game alongside Lucasfilm Games, effectively ending EA’s 10-year exclusivity agreement with Disney. The unnamed Star Wars project will be the first Star Wars game developed by a studio outside of EA since 2012. It will be the second title to fall under the newly established LucasFilm Games, with an Indiana Jones game announced earlier this week.
Little is known about the new game’s setting, characters or place in the Star Wars timeline, but it is understood the team is looking to create something more extensive in scope than previous Star Wars games we have seen. Julian Gerighty (The Division 2, The Crew) will serve as creative director. If this Star Wars game turns out to be The Division with bounty hunters and other scoundrels, colour me excited!
The initial 10-year exclusivity contract between EA and Disney was set to end in 2023, and neither Disney nor Lucasfilm Games are yet to make comment as to why, or how, the end date was brought forward. It would be safe to assume the Star Wars Battlefront 2 micro-transaction fiasco, and a slew of cancelled projects played a part in the decision.
However, this will not mark the end of the relationship between Star Wars and EA, with Lucasfilm Games VP Douglas Reilly confirming there are still projects in the works. “We’re really proud of the games we have created with EA,” Reilly says. “We will continue working with them and our relationship has never been stronger. While we may not have a lot of details to share at the moment, we’ve got a number of projects underway with the talented teams at EA”, Let’s hope that means Fallen Order 2 isn’t too far away!