Walt Disney Company has just tapped Electronic Arts to exclusively produce future Star Wars video games for "mobile, social, tablet and online," although Disney will retain some game creation rights within those categories.
Disney and EA announced the multi-year licensing deal Monday -- a month after Disney and LucasFilm shuttered long-time Star Wars game publisher LucasArts.
"Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe," Frank Gibeau, president of EA Labels, said in a statement. "Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans.
"The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay."
EA studios DICE, Visceral and BioWare will be responsible for creating the new games.
"Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come," Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, added in the announcement.
"When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear," she said.
Not everyone is excited by the deal. Some Star Wars fans are showing disappointment. Just last month, EA was voted "Worst Company in America" by a wide margin by Consumerist readers, after a botched launch of SimCity in March that led to players unable to access the game's servers for several days.
I don't think I've ever felt so unhappy @starwars. It sucks to watch something you love be ruined. Thanks @disney & @ea— Patrick Ryan Kasprik (@PatKasprik) May 6, 2013
EA is making Star Wars games?That sucks, Star Wars games use to be fun.— Cody Stewart (@stewart_cody) May 6, 2013
So, they get rid of LucasArts and give Star Wars to EA of all companies? I hate Disney. starwars.com/news/electroni…— Zachary (@Deinonychus_Z) May 6, 2013