Following the news of LucasArts game studios being shut down, Disney has signed an exclusive agreement that grants the rights to the Star Wars franchise over to EA and its studios. Disney’s co-president John Pleasants states that “This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come.”, and while many core gamers would strongly disagree in choosing EA as a publisher, more casual gamers are likely to appreciate the company’s approach to content production, whether it be Facebook games or casual releases for Origin.
To many core gamers, this comes as a very big surprise considering the enormous fiasco following the launch of the new Sim City, and the high amount of flak and poor sales that EA has been reporting this trimester. Furthermore, the company has been named “the worst company in America” by the consumerist for the second year in a row, a never-before achieved feat by any company in history.
With that being said, fans of the franchise can now expect Origin exclusive, yearly releases of Star Wars, as well as overpriced DLC, incredibly restrictive DRM and poor post-sales support from the publishing giant. If the latest releases of titles marketed by EA are any indications of the future to come for the fan-favorite, the force is not very strong with this one, and our lack of faith is anything but disturbing.
But who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and finally get Battlefront 3, and not a Star Wars themed expansion to The Sims.
Source: Gamesradar