Disney Interactive just announced Star Wars: Commander, a free-to-play game for mobile devices. The game, which is available for iOS devices, is set between George Lucas’ original two Star Wars movies and follows players from the planet of Tattooine as their careers advance inside whichever group they choose to belong to.
The combat strategy game will be familiar to fans of that genre. Players control a commander of either Rebel of Imperial forces and deploy vehicles and troops into battle. The difference, of course, is that “Star Wars: Commander” gives fans the chance to deploy Stormtroopers AT-AT’s, and X-Wings. And characters they’ll meet along the way include Han Solo and Chewbacca (voiced by sound-alikes, not the original cast).
“Commander,” which like most new mobile games is free-to-play but includes paid options for players who want to advance more quickly, includes both single player and competitive multi-player options.
The single player campaign starts soon after the events of the original “Star Wars” and will be significantly expanded through updates in the coming months, said lead producer Nate Etter.
“We built this as a game platform to tell a story,” Mr. Etter explained in an interview. “We have plans to take players through ‘Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi.’”
Although “Commander” could keep players occupied for years to come with new content, other “Star Wars” mobile games are also in the works, said Mr. Etter. In addition, Disney last year struck a deal with Electronic Arts to produce “Star Wars” video games for consoles.
“Star Wars: Commander” launches worldwide Thursday in every country where Apple’s iTunes Store operates except for China. A version for Android phones is also in the works, said Mr. Etter.
