Star Wars is one of the most successful and iconic movie franchises of all time and has even had a hand in expanding the gaming landscape. There have been over 30 Star Wars video games, but Disney wants to change that and release a new SW game every six months. The franchise’s fans fear that having this much content could harm the series.
Fast Release May Not Be A Good Idea
Disney wants to keep the momentum for their Star Wars division by releasing new content regularly. And although the idea sounds great on paper, even if these new projects do indeed come out, many factors could wreck this plan right from the start.
Disney is looking to ramp up the number of video games coming out over the next few years. While this is just an announcement, there are already some concerns about decreased demand in the market. If Disney keeps pushing out sequels at this pace that it has shown for the past decade, there will come the point where fans will not feel any excitement when new games are released anymore.
New Star Wars games would often feel like a routine business rather than something special or exciting. To keep the hype going on top of these releases, developers need to find ways to make their projects stand out from the rest.
Star Wars 1313
Throughout the development cycle, LucasArts had been working on a new Star Wars video game that was set to revive the series. The company had a sure-bet reputation for making exciting games almost like Betway’s live games, though those focus on online gaming and sports betting. When LucasArts released its E3 demo of Star Wars 1313, the tone was set — this would be a wonderful action-adventure title. And it was, but only for a bit. Disney canceled 1313 after being pitched on by LucasArts.
Disney and Electronic Arts Inc.
After shuttering game development within LucasArts, Disney quickly aligned itself with EA. On May 6th, Disney and EA mutually declared a “multi-title exclusive licensing agreement” where EA will develop games based on some of Disney’s best properties on May 6, 2013. Star Wars Battlefront became one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world, and EA’s rebooted a top-selling game.
However, the long tail of Star Wars games is different from what it used to be. Disney’s decision to give the Star Wars license to Electronic Arts (EA) for film-based games hasn’t been good. Overall output has been dampened by a lack of development from Disney and Lucas Arts.
After EA was granted the exclusive rights to publish Star Wars games, fans were hoping that it would be a good move for Disney. However, EA’s lack of involvement with the last few Star Wars video games has disappointed many. From the rise of microtransactions and loot box mechanics to its numerous technical issues, EA has taken many steps backward on its way toward making Star Wars games the best they can be.
Conclusion
Disney has been one of the most successful companies in the world over the last few decades. But not every success is due to years of great management and hard work. There are many cases where a company’s success is more to do with luck and factors out of control, and one such case is Disney’s failure with Star Wars video games.
