Warner Bros. announces the development of LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, featuring Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, BB-8, Poe, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and more.
The news was leaked earlier this morning, but Warner Bros. has now made it official. TT Games, the well versed developers of the LEGO franchise, are now working on LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The humorous action game is licensed from the ever so popular film of the same name, offering a parody that's family friendly and fun for all ages. Available starting June 28, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be coming to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U and 3DS.
Tom Stone, Managing Director of TT Games, provided the following prepared statement regarding the LEGO Star Wars franchise and what fans can look forward to:
"We’re extremely proud of the LEGO Star Wars videogames, truly an incredible franchise that has sold more than 33 million copies and helped ignite a passion for numerous fun-filled LEGO games enjoyed by countless gamers around the world. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be pushing the series forward with innovative new gameplay mechanics, while also exploring new parts of the universe that are sure to excite and delight both LEGO and Star Wars fans, as well as newcomers to our games."
Expect Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens to take most of its inspiration from previous LEGO games; TT Games is making three or more of these a year after all. The team is hoping to introduce some new mechanics given how big of a project this will be, however. Some of those features include "Multi-Builds," which provides different building options, "Blaster Battles," arena-based battles, and of course dogfights using spaceships including the Millenium Falcon.
Warner Bros. is also planning extensive DLC support for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. At launch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 players will gain exclusive access to two free DLC packs, the Droid Character Pack and the Phantom Limb Level Pack.
As for post-launch content, it's now been confirmed that the game will offer a season pass of additional DLC. Details regarding the season pass are nil at this point, but it's tentatively going to cost an additional $10 (and may only be available on PS4 and X1) based on Deluxe Edition bundle pricing.
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Many in the greater gaming community are curious how Disney and LucasFilm were able to give Warner Bros. and TT Games the license for the Star Wars film while also exclusively partnered with Electronic Arts for Star Wars video games. The simple answer would be that EA doesn't hold the contract for licensed properties based directly on the films. That is to say, EA has the contract for the greater Star Wars property, but not the movies themselves. This could mean all of EA's games will be original stories within the Star Wars IP.
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The press release also implies something else that LEGO game fans will find exciting: this will be the first LEGO video game that focuses entirely on a single movie property. That detail, combined with the fact that Disney in planning on releasing a new Star Wars film every single year, implies that Lego Star Wars stands a good chance of becoming an annualized franchise. In 2016 it's Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in 2017 it could be Lego Star Wars: Rogue One, and in 2018 it could be Episode 8.
Overall this is a win for LEGO game fans or fans of LEGO in general, a win for Star Wars fans (especially those with kids just getting into the franchise) and almost certainly a win for Disney. The only losing party might be those who buy into another Warner Bros. season pass of DLC. That is to say, please don't buy a Warner Bros. published season pass until after you know exactly what's included in it. You might end up with a 2-hour long Jar Jar Binks mini-game.
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will launch on Jun 28 for the PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii U, and 3DS.