Jason Schreier Confirms: EA Won't Retain Its Star Wars Deal
Jason Schreier from Bloomberg agency commented on the future of Star Wars games. According to the journalist, Disney does not intend to renew the agreement with Electronic Arts for the exclusive development of productions under license of the brand.
Yesterday's announcement of Ubisoft's Star Wars game clearly showed that the era of Star Wars titles published exclusively by Electronic Arts is coming to an end. If by any miracle someone needed additional proof, perhaps he will be convinced by the latest entry by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. The journalist announced on Twitter that the reveal of Ubisoft Massive's project is an official confirmation that Disney does not intend to extend the agreement with Electronic Arts for the exclusive development of Star Wars games by this publisher after 2023.
Schreier's entry confirms that Disney and Electronic Arts have signed an agreement for ten years, which was previously suggested by the publisher itself. In this case, commissioning a new Star Wars game to another company could indicate an early end to the cooperation. Another thing is that Ubisoft Massive is just beginning to work on its project, and we're talking about a game with an open (and probably large) world. So it's almost certain that the title won't be released before 2023, when the agreement between EA and Disney (most likely concerning not development, but publishing of games) expires.
We'd like to point out, however, that Jason Schreier's post is not official information, although it does seem to coincide with what Disney representatives have written. Nevertheless, as always, we recommend approaching such reports with caution. Even if they are true, it certainly doesn't mean the end of Star Wars from Electronic Arts. This has been emphasized by the reinstated Lucasfilm Games division, but it has also been suggested by EA itself before. Back in May, the publisher called Jedi: Fallen Order "the first game in an entirely new series." There is also no shortage of indications that the next installment in the Star Wars: Battlefront series will appear as well.
