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An unofficial sequel to Pandemic and LucasArts’ Star Wars Battlefront 2 is apparently coming to PC.
Despite seeming like a prime candidate for a swift copyright-infringement cancellation, Galaxy in Turmoil maker Frontwire reckon it is on safe legal ground. So much so, that Steam itself is stepping forward to distributethe title.
By Steam agreeing to ship Galaxy in Turmoil we are not only adding more validation and awareness to the project by opening up the game to a whole new audience, we’re also cementing Frontwire Studios’ reputation as an up and coming developer with the opportunity to now publish our games on Steam in the future,” Frontwire president Tony Romanelli said.
People have been expressed their concern as of late, saying they expect us to get a Cease & Desist from Disney. I’ll be honest – I’ve had mild concerns myself from time to time. However Valve clearly lacks that same concern. By agreeing to publish Galaxy in Turmoil, Valve is assisting us in growing and ensuring the longevity of the Galaxy in Turmoil project and community as a whole.
I encourage everyone, including those that doubt we’ll be able to pull this off, to take a page from Valve’s book. Take a deep breath and just take a chance on our project. In the end, it’ll pay off for everyone involved. Especially the community.”
But what of the legal situation? Frontwire, which is staffed by volunteers, told Polygon that the game will be permissible under US fair use provisions as it’s free and the developers have not raised money to fund the project.
The game will use vehicles, characters and concepts from the films, but not the Star Wars name or its music. Nor will it use any assets from the scrapped Battlefront 3, which was at one stage in development at Free Radical (which subsequently became Crytek UK and then Dambuster).
