As it more often than not proves to be in any media adorned with its name, Star Wars has been something of a golden egg for EA. The video game publisher, which famously signed a lucrative deal with Disney back in 2013 for exclusive rights to the franchise in gaming, has revealed in a recent call with investors that the license has resulted in total earnings of $3 billion spread across several titles. CEO Andrew Wilson cites mobile hit Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes as being a billion-dollar IP on its own, with the likes of Jedi: Fallen Order, Squadrons and Battlefront accounting for any remaining “net bookings.”
2021 has, however, brought with it great change. Coinciding with the establishment of Lucasfilm Games, EA’s aforementioned contract with Disney is now no longer valid, meaning its competitors are free to create their own adventures in a galaxy far, far away. While certainly not ideal news for the former, Wilson is keen to stress that the separation means very little in the grand scheme of things – subsidiary studios will continue to produce Star Wars experiences for the foreseeable future.
Wilson’s statement is as follows (H/T, The Motley Fool):
In terms of Star Wars, I don’t think you should imagine that the fact that some other people will build some Star Wars games is going to change our commitment to that IP or our ability to build the appropriate number of games.
And as I said before, we’ve had a long partnership with Disney, both before our exclusive period that gave us a great opportunity to really establish some very strong franchises like Battlefront, like Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, like Jedi: Fallen Order, like Squadrons. You should expect us to continue to invest in our Star Wars relationship. It’s been very profitable, to this point, over $3 billion in net bookings, and we’re excited by what we’ll be able to do in the future. But you shouldn’t read this as necessarily us building the less (sic) titles.
As for the identity of these unannounced titles to which Wilson is referring, we’re willing to guess that a sequel to Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is one of them, and if recent rumors are to be believed, others could include further installments in DICE’s Battlefront series. See here for the full story.
Tell us, though, what games are you hoping to see from the franchise in the future? As always, sound off down below and watch this space for more.
