With Electronic Arts now completely in control of all core Star Wars games moving forward, they can follow one of three paths. They can ignore all the LucasArts creations that have come before them and make completely new games, they can revive old Star Wars franchises (Battlefront, Republic Commando, Tie Fighter), or they can make new games and revive old franchises.
Obviously, door number 3 is the preferable option, because it allows Electronic Arts the freedom to use Star Wars as they see fit while also pleasing die-hard fans. And, almost as if they have read fans' minds, Electronic Arts appears to be doing that: choosing the third path.
According to the WSJ, EA is expanding their LA presence with a new DICE studio, taking some talent from Danger Close Games (formerly EA Los Angeles) with the goal of expanding by recruit new talent. Since the Medal of Honor franchise is on ice yet again, and since the dev worked with DICE closely on the MoH reboot, it's easy to understand why Danger Close resources would be shifted. Obviously, one would assume that the talent recruitment office would be focused on assisting DICE with Battlefield, seeing as how that franchise has seemingly become EA's bread-and-butter, but alas this is a Star Wars facility.
As DICE GM Karl-Magnus Troedsson tells the WSJ, DICE needs talent for "creating an entirely new experience or piggybacking on an older Star Wars game series." Yes, this office is for recruiting folks fit to create the next generation of Star Wars games.
Not only that, there's a possibility DICE's new game will be from an older Star Wars game series. Since long before EA acquired the Star Wars license from Disney, we've been speculating that DICE is the perfect developer to revive the Battlefront series, but we're not going to get our hopes up just yet.
At the same time, this is also just one team, or set of teams, that is handling Star Wars development. Both BioWare and Visceral Games are reportedly working on Star Wars titles, which means there's plenty more potential matchmaking to be done between old franchises and developers.
For now, though, EA is still discussing their plans for Star Wars, which they may or may not have discussed with Disney already. And rest assured, EA is not looking to rush these games out — DICE has only just begun recruiting after all.
Would you like to see DICE develop a new Star Wars game or bringing back an older franchise? If it's an older franchise, which one do you think it should be?
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Source: WSJ