Star Wars Games No Longer Have to Come Only From Major Publishers, Lucasfilm Says

After EA and Disney’s ten-year exclusivity deal ended in 2023, the range of Star Wars games gradually expanded. Alongside action-adventure games, projects in other genres have appeared, including turn-based strategy and racing. Lucasfilm says this is no coincidence, but part of an effort by the franchise’s owner to explore a wider range of possibilities for the brand.

Lucasfilm Games vice president Douglas Reilley explained in an interview with TheGameBusiness that the company is now more open to pitches from different developers. “We’re trying to be more flexible about who we accept pitches from. Good ideas can come from a lot of different places. You don’t necessarily have to be one of the five biggest publishers to make a great Star Wars game,” he said.

That does not mean Lucasfilm plans to entrust its brand to just anyone. Reilley stressed that the company has high quality standards and wants its games to deliver an exceptional experience. For that reason, he said, it typically works with more experienced teams that have already demonstrated they can produce quality projects, rather than studios without notable achievements.

Lucasfilm has also indicated that it is developing projects of different scales and working with partners whose involvement fans might not expect. Reilley did not reveal any names or new games, however. For now, this is more a hint at the company’s future direction than an announcement of specific projects.

Since EA’s exclusivity deal ended, the brand has indeed appeared in a more varied range of genres. Examples include the turn-based strategy game Star Wars: Zero Company and the racing project Star Wars: Galactic Racer. The diversity of the universe gives creators room to try different approaches without having to stick exclusively to action games or film-style storytelling.

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