Ubisoft creates open-world Star Wars game, ending EA exclusivity

Lucasfilm Games has announced the creation of a new open-world Star Wars game with publisher Ubisoft, to be developed by The Division developer Ubisoft Massive. The news was first revealed by Wired and then elaborated upon by Lucasfilm itself, who described the moment as a ‘Big Bang’ for Star Wars games.

This marks the end of EA's exclusive license to develop games based on the Star Wars franchise, which was announced back in 2013. Now Lucasfilm wants to work with a host of developers to bring games to life using the company's proprietary intellectual property - as the recent announcement of the Indiana Jones game indicates, it's not just limited to Star Wars.

“We’re looking to work with the best teams that can create great games across our IP,” Lucasfilm Games Vice President Douglas Reilly told StarWars.com. “We have a team of professionals here at Lucasfilm Games that can work with developers, shape the stories, shape the creation, shape the games, really resonate with fans and deliver them across a wide range of platforms, across genres and experiences so that all of our fans can enjoy the IPs they know and love.”

EA will continue to make Star Wars games, and Reilly teases that "several projects" are in the works at the publisher. It seems likely that EA will want to make a sequel to its Jedi Fallen Order game, which is selling a massive 10 million copies.

Expect more projects to be announced this year from the new Lucasfilm Games label. “This is just the beginning of what I think will be a very exciting year for Lucasfilm Games,” Reilly says. Last week marked the resurgence of the brand for the first time in a long time, and these announcements are a sign of what’s to come. Reilly says he will “continue to announce projects that are more representative of the legacy of the old Lucasfilm games that we’re now trying to live up to.”

Little is known about Ubisoft's new Star Wars game except that it will be directed by Ubisoft's Julian Geraghty and will be made using the Snowdrop game engine. Wired characterizes development as "very early."

Has been?

EA’s deal to make Star Wars games would have been a 10-year exclusivity agreement, and as noted by well-connected Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, it does not appear to have been renewed beyond 2023.

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With today's news that Ubisoft Massive is making a Star Wars game, it's official that EA's Exclusive Deal will not be renewed past 2023. Good news for Star Wars fans and possibly even EA, whose current executives inherited a licensing deal they never wanted. 13, 2021

Wired's report mentions that Lucasfilm Games won't comment on the timing of the EA deal, so it's a mystery how that affected what was just announced.

EA has had a mixed history with Star Wars, with its output being fairly low considering the licenses it has been running for nearly eight years, but its recent form has been pretty good. Jedi Fallen Order, Squadrons, and the revamped Battlefront 2 are all great examples of developers who have managed to push the galaxy very, very far into existing game genres.

It's hard not to think there were some missed opportunities along the way, though. EA owns Knights of the Old Republic developers BioWare, but there hasn't been a single-player Star Wars RPG yet. EA outright cancelled a cinematic action game called Project Ragtag, which was from the creator of the Uncharted series.

More options for Star Wars fans is a good thing, and potentially opens the door for more unusual takes on the saga in the gaming space.