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This week’s Star Wars Battlefront is just the start for EA’s rebooted sci-fi shooter series.
Speaking at the UBS Global Technology Conference (via GameSpot), the publisher’s CFO Blake Jorgensen said that it had struck a near 10-year deal with Disney to create Star Wars games – and that further Battlefront instalments were already in the works.
"We struck a licensing deal with Disney a few years back that’s almost ten years in length,” explained Jorgensen.
Our goal is to makefuture Battlefront gamesas well as other style games around theStar Warsfranchise, both on mobile as well as console and PC. It’s a huge opportunity for us."
This year’s Battlefront focuses on the battles and events of the original Star Wars trilogy – Episodes IV through VI – plus environments from upcoming film Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
Jorgensen added that EA’s deal with Disney includes the ability to create titles based on the more recently-released prequel trilogy (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith), meaning they could make an appearance in future Battlefront games or other Star Wars titles.
"We get access to all of the historical content as well as all the new content developed," he detailed.
"The beauty of the Star Warsfranchise is it’s almost unlimited in what you can do with it. We know Disney has done a great job with other franchises and we believe they’ll do the same withStar Wars over time in delivering new worlds, new characters, new vehicles, all the things that make great video games.
Our goal is not to make video games directly about the movies – it’s to use the IP in the movie to make great, exciting games."
There is one caveat, Jorgensen concluded – EA has to stick to the canonical fiction of the Star Wars universe. Meaning you’re unlikely to see that Jar-Jar Binks: Jedi Knight spin-off you’ve been hankering after.
"You can’t do something counter toStar Warsand that’s fine with us because I think that’s why people loveStar Wars.”
