Lucasfilm Games Kicks Off a New Era of Star Wars Titles

Following its recent revival of the "Lucasfilm Games" title, the company formerly known as LucasArts (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Lego Star Wars: The Video Game, Star Wars: Battlefront) has announced via blog post that it will be significantly expanding the scope of studios it lets loose on the Star Wars licence and other Lucasfilm licences. In the words of Lucasfilm Games' Vice President, Douglas Reilly, "Lucasfilm Games is opening the doors to developers that want to come play in the galaxy far, far away".

The first title announced in this Star Wars wave comes from Massive Entertainment, the Ubisoft Studio behind Tom Clancy's The Division and its sequel. Details are scarce, but the blog describes it as a "story-driven, open-world Star Wars game" developed in the Snowdrop engine—the engine which powers The Division. Of course, that's all without mentioning the recent Indiana Jones game which has been teased from MachineGames, the developer behind Wolfenstein: The New Order and its sequel.

In recent years, the right to produce Star Wars videogames (except for ones bearing the "LEGO" branding) was exclusively held by EA and its vast pool of development studios. Now, though, Lucasfilm Games is, as Reilly states, "looking to work with best-in-class teams that can make great games across all of our IP". He continues, establishing that the company will work with developers, helping guide them through the Star Wars universe as they craft experiences that span both platforms and genres.

Lucasfilm Games is remaining tight-lipped on further details regarding its plans for now, although we can likely expect more announcements and updates as the year continues judging by Reilly's closing quote: "This is just the beginning of what I think is going to be a very exciting year for Lucasfilm Games".