As many of you have heard by now, Disney has bought up the rights to Star Wars and all of Lucas' companies. About a month ago, Disney announced that they had shut down Lucas Arts. A video game company that produces such amazing titles as Star Wars Battlefront. This disaster was only further reinforced at the live stream of Battlefront Alpha footage that was posted only days ago.
BF3 alphaNov from Blue_Monkey on Vimeo.
Look at that! There's still a lot of work to be done on it, but that's why it was still in the alpha stage. Seriously, the ability to go up out of the atmosphere to bring down a star destroyer that's harassing your teammates on the ground, then getting off before the thing explodes then return to the fight with a distinct advantage. Freakin' wrapping around the legs of an AT-AT to bring it down, finally fixing the incredible imbalance between the rebels and the Empire on the Hoth map. A story mode that looks engaging filled with lightsaber fights that aren't overly flashy, where both combatants use both hands for one lightsaber like the original films. The Wilhelm scream! That game looked like it was going to have everything.
Sorry, but I had to geek out just a little bit. Star Wars Battlefront has been a big part of my gaming experience, and there are many fond memories of the game. I would really like to see another one, with which to make more memories and have many more hours of fun with. But there may be hope.
I don't quite understand why Disney had decided to shut down Lucas Arts. In fact, Disney hasn't said much on the matter at all. But, as a gamer, I would like to know more. Why would they shut down a company that had titles like Star Wars 1313 in mid development. There was a lot of potential that had gone to waste. Today I read on Kotaku that publishing company Electronic Arts had bought the rights to producing Star Wars Content.
EA Snags Exclusive Deal To Make Star Wars Games
The article mentions that developers Visceral (creators of Dead Space), and DICE ( creators of the Battlefield Series) will be creating Star Wars games. The mention of these developers filled me with a sense of dread, as both of these studios produce lackluster games each year. EA doesn't seem like the type of company to offer jobs to those who were laid off from Lucas Arts, and give them the means to complete their works. I once appreciated EA for the direction that they were headed in only a few years ago. Picking up titles such as Brutal Legend, a game that had been tossed about the sea of licensing, going from developer to developer only to be turned down. EA used to mean something back in the days of yore, but now with its absolute power, it seems all is lost.
There may not be another great Star Wars game. It's been a long time since I've seen one that was truly great. I can only wait and see. Though, I seriously doubt that EA will go outside and revive such studios as Pandemic to continue to make Star Wars games, but there isn't much hope for that.
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