back to article First, the bad news: EA bags Star Wars games rights

Disney has made good on its promise to farm out future Star Wars games to an outside developer after scrapping LucasArts - and picked much-loved EA. Electronic Arts will be able to build on its Jedi-inspired online multiplayer game Star Wars: The Old Republic now that the two entertainment giants have signed a multi-year …

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  1. RyokuMas
    Devil

    Hmmm...

    "Episode 7: The DRM Menace"

    "Episode 8: The Content (price) Wars"

    "Episode 9: Revenge of the Downtime"

    ...

    1. wowfood
      Black Helicopters

      Re: Hmmm...

      "Episode 10: A new DLC"

      "Episode 11: The developers strike back"

      "Episode 12: Return of the DRM"

  2. Gordon Pryra

    "true believer"

    If he is actually a "true believer" then why are the games such boring piles of crap?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Devil

      @Gordon

      That's because you're reading other things in "believer" than he actually meant. He didn't mean a true believer in the sense that one should try and keep true to the story as it was laid out in the first original 3 movies. No, I think he's a true believer that the franchise as a whole still has enough spunk in it left to generate a nice steady revenue.

    2. The Indomitable Gall

      Re: "true believer"

      Because "true believer" is a term that Stan Lee dreamed up to refer to the readers of his comics during his time as editor-in-chief at Marvel. So as a "true believer", he's just making do with whatever crap he can get his hands on until such time as he manages to nab the Spiderman license.

  3. Ketlan
    Unhappy

    Bye, Star Wars...

    "Still waiting for the good news"

    Now EA is involved, you'll have a very long wait.

    1. deains
      Joke

      Re: Bye, Star Wars...

      Don't worry, I'm sure they'll make the good news available as a £19.99 DLC package.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bye, Star Wars...

      Can I sue them for the depression they have now put me in?

  4. wowfood
    Paris Hilton

    YAY

    "Now, we need somebody to take over the role of George Lucas, lets list out a few things he brought"

    Great initial films

    Gradually goes downhill

    Turns into a pile of crap that shits on the original

    JarJarBinx

    Now who can best match this set of qualities, well EA seems to fit the bill perfectly, promise a great game, deliver something bad which gradually gets worse, and then start releasing sequals about as well thought out as jarjar. Perfect.

    Honestly can't wait to see EA butcher another franchise I loved.

    Paris because she could probably do a better job of making games than EA

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Devil

      C3P0 as used car salesman?

      > Great initial films

      Only because he didn't actually have free reign.

      He's been quite in character all the way to the tubes.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sorry, Master Yoda.

    “Licensing is the path to the dark side. Licensing leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the future is.”

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Sorry, Master Yoda.

      EA leads to DRM, DRM leads to downtime, downtime leads to suffering.

    2. Michael Habel

      Re: Sorry, Master Yoda.

      >Implying that the dark side will be cloudy?

      I have to tend to agree with you on this one.

    3. Chairo
      Terminator

      Re: Sorry, Master Yoda.

      Impossible to see the future is.

      EA is involved - we all can see the future very clearly, indeed.

    4. GitMeMyShootinIrons

      Re: Sorry, Master Yoda.

      "EA Games - You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."

      Sorry, Obi-Wan.

  6. Flawless101
    Unhappy

    Just licence Obsidian the KotOR franchise, pretend TOR didn't happen and I'll be happy.

    1. Chris 244
      Go

      TOR

      What is this TOR you speak of. Oh, wait, I can find out for myself, just have to click on one of the several TOR ads being served up to me here on this page.

      And no I can't Adblock/NoScript. I'm at work, so that means I'm using IE6.

  7. Eradicate all BB entrants

    Did he not .....

    ..... even google EA to see how truly moronic and useless they are? Ordinary plebs like us would be sacked for gross misconduct for the decisions they have made since obtaining the franchise.

    What next? Shutting down ILM and farming the work out to Derek who is good at flash animation?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Did he not .....

      He probably just put it out to tender and went for the biggest number.

      I think you overestimate the long term view of these people. :D

      When it all goes to shit, it will be someone else's problem.

    2. Ben Holmes
      Unhappy

      Re: Did he not .....

      Unfortunately for your average Star Wars fan, whilst EA may well be moronic and useless, they also have a wallet that's more capacious than an Elephant's scrotum.

  8. NomNomNom

    The only good news I could possibly imagine would be if they hired George Lucas to script and direct whole the game. Without George Lucas I can't imagine any future starwars game or movie working. Star wars is like poetry, you need someone who can make each stanza rhyme with the last.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Because he did such a good job with the new trilogy. Lucas is a hack with ideas. It took a team of other people to make those ideas into a worthwhile film. When he tried to do it all himself we got jarjarbinx and an 8 year old boy flirting with somebody twice his age.

    2. Fibbles

      The only good news I can see is that Disney have retained the rights to the online games. The naive side of me hopes this means that EAs future Star Wars releases must be playable without an internet connection.

    3. Oninoshiko

      Without George Lucas I can't imagine any future starwars game or movie working.

      No, they would have to resurrect Akira Kurosawa to direct a film for Lucas to steal the plot from to get anything good anyway.

    4. Ru
      Facepalm

      if they hired George Lucas to script and direct whole the game.

      You are trolling, right?

      Cos George had to contend with a lot of other folk when the first 3 films came out... lots of strong willed and clever staff and actors, who often pushed things in directions he didn't like at all.

      Fast forward a few decades to when he's jolly rich and all powerful and gets to do what he likes, with his vision unimpeded by the plebs. We get the prequel trilogy, and shortly thereafter the 'retroactively shat-upon' editions of the original set.

      EA working with Lucas on a new game would be pretty much the nadir of the whole franchise.

  9. Gordon861

    Battlefield 3/4 - Star Wars ???

    If they just get DICE to do a reskin of Battlefield 3/4 to Star Wars graphics they will be half way to a massive seller.

    1. wowfood

      Re: Battlefield 3/4 - Star Wars ???

      If they want a real winner, they should just do a team fortress rip off

      scout = Jedi (seriously, just give them a lightsaber)

      soldier = Storm Trooper

      pyro = Boba Fett (or jango)

      demo = Princess Leia

      heavy = Wookie

      engineer = R2 unit

      medic = C3P0

      sniper = Han Solo

      spy = Lando

      You know it makes sense.

    2. Esskay
      Unhappy

      Re: Battlefield 3/4 - Star Wars ???

      This is EA. They've probably already found a way to set the game in 1942. (less reskinning to do!)

      1. Fibbles

        Re: Battlefield 3/4 - Star Wars ???

        El Alamein with AT-ATs?

        I'd buy that.

        1. AbortRetryFail

          Re: Battlefield 3/4 - Star Wars ???

          > I'd buy that.

          For a dollar?

        2. SoaG

          Re: Battlefield 3/4 - Star Wars ???

          You mean like this?

          Also, they already did the re-skinned Battlefield thing and called it Battlefront.

      2. Flawless101
        Devil

        Re: Battlefield 3/4 - Star Wars ???

        1942? Not even EA are using the setting (much) these days. Not like they used to anyway. It's all tacticool modern shooters with added realism, blue filters, and lens flare. No exceptions.

        1. Esskay

          @Flawless101

          And don't forget camera shake - apparently all soldiers can only focus on an object for about half a second before spinning around wildly and shaking their head about.

      3. enerider
        Coat

        Re: Battlefield 3/4 - Star Wars ???

        See BF1942 and Galactic Conquest Mod :-)

        Was buggy at times, but some fun could be had :D

    3. Smallbrainfield
      FAIL

      Re: Battlefield 3/4 - Star Wars ???

      FWIW BF3 hasn't been working properly for about 3 days now, constantly booting players out of the game due to EA's fucked up server system. Fucking clueless. Message says they are aware and working on the problem, shit happens.

  10. Rampant Spaniel

    Updated x wing \ tie fighter games please :-)

    1. Steve Brooks

      What?!? Because the first one wasn't perfect? You start dabbling with perfection and it's all downhill with a very bad crash at the end.

    2. Alistair MacRae
      Thumb Up

      Seconded

      I really do hate you EA, but if you're going to make a game... X-WIng vs Tie Fighter please!

    3. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Just when I'd decided my gaming days were over, and my old PC needs drastic re-building to be able to play anything modern. Then would be the time that another TIE Fighter game would turn up, and I'd be forced to spend good money on an upgrade / new PC, to play it.

      I wasted many, many hours of my life on that game. And a few more on X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter later on.

      1. Rampant Spaniel

        They were truly epic titles. I wouldn't want to see the gameplay messed with, but a vastly updated engine would be good!

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    but BIOWare are in the mix and they are mostly responsible for SWToR which is a phenomenal immersive Star Wars experience. If they do games of that quality with EA then we have some good stuff to look forward to.

    and if anyone from EA is perusing this pithy forum then I want an X-Wing simulator. Pay attention: Every switch, button and knob will be simulated. I want cold and dark startup from Tattooine. nothing less will do.

    k, thanks, bye.

    -

    Paris in that metal bikini please.

  12. GBL Initialiser
    Mushroom

    EA: I am your publisher

    Star Wars: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

    (Shamelessly stolen from a friend)

    1. Ben Rosenthal
      Facepalm

      I think what you meant was http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

      I know that's what I've just done sat at my desk.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Return of Transformers of the Caribbean anyone......?

    Can't help feeling that this is pure brand-exploitation. Surely SW hit saturation point with consumers long ago? We live in different times now, besides Lucas butchered his own baby with a thousand cuts.... Movies have become so lame of late, that I now think the original Star Wars was probably a fluke. The first Matrix movie was a fluke, hence why the two sequels were a mess. But the original SW was a lucky alignment of many things that came together perfectly. But hey they'll probably cast someone like Tom Cruise in the SW franchise reboot, and he'll bring in a billion $ every reboot proving me wrong...!

    1. You need to log in to use this part of the site
      Headmaster

      Re: Return of Transformers of the Caribbean anyone......?

      "...Movies have become so lame of late, that I now think the original Star Wars was probably a fluke. The first Matrix movie was a fluke, hence why the two sequels were a mess..."

      All sequels are shit because anyone writing a film script is going to put all their best ideas into the original story-line in order to try and get someone to buy it. No-one desperately trying to get a studio interested in their idea is going to hold back some of the 'good stuff', just on the off-chance that some day, years down the road, they might be asked to come up with a sequel.

      1. Martin
        Happy

        All sequels are shit?

        Counterexample 1 - Toy Story 2

        Counterexample 2 - Toy Story 3

        Counterexample 3 - A Shot in the Dark (the followup to the original Pink Panther)

        Counterexample 4 - The Return of the Pink Panther

        But yes, I accept that nearly all sequels are shit.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hope the multi-player back-end is better than Battlefield 3.

    This has had issues for the last 5 days where servers crash at end of round and do not log any stats or a battle report.

    1. Gordon861

      The whole back-end with BF3 is just crap, BF2 worked fine the new system sucks.

  15. Another Justin
    Thumb Up

    Excellent news!

    Things that I have no interest in purchasing:

    - Games made by EA

    - Any game about Star Wars

    Synergistic!

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The good news

    The good news:

    The "Kill all Gungans, as violently as possible" level.

    The bad news:

    It's DLC.

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