Lucasfilm Games says you don’t need to be a gaming giant to make a Star Wars game — and the strategy is already paying off. After two indie-led Star Wars titles won over critics and fans this year, the company plans to hand the galaxy to even more unexpected developers.
Star Wars Galactic Racer (Credits: GameSpot)
This year saw two Star Wars games take fresh swings at the franchise. Bit Reactor’s Star Wars Zero Company delivered aggressive turn-based tactics with an XCOM edge, while Fuse Games’ Star Wars Galactic Racer earned praise for superb roguelite racing, slick presentation, and the fan-favorite droid Biddy Blas. Both were well received — and Lucasfilm Games has been taking notes.
“It Doesn’t Have to Always Be AAA”
“It very much is part of the strategy,” Lucasfilm Games VP Douglas Reilly told The Game Business Show. “Obviously, huge AAA games like Battlefront are always going to be an essential part of the strategy. But one of the great things about Star Wars is it has all kinds of other opportunities to tell stories in different genres.”
Reilly said the goal is finding “the best partner to bring that experience to life inside the galaxy far, far away” — and “it doesn’t have to always be AAA; sometimes it can be AA, and it’s really about the experience that we’re delivering and the fantasy we’re fulfilling.” He added that Lucasfilm isn’t looking for a “top five publisher,” but teams that can meet its bar for quality — and that some upcoming partners will “surprise” people when revealed.
Experience Over Pedigree
Lucasfilm isn’t demanding an established track record from partners — experienced staff counts. Fuse Games is a prime example: founded by former Criterion Games developers who worked on EA’s Burnout and Need for Speed series, plus the two Star Wars: Battlefront titles.
The indie strategy has a proven model: Konami has revived Silent Hill to a hot streak by entrusting it to outside developers like Bloober Team, NeoBards Entertainment, and Screen Burn Interactive. Meanwhile AAA still delivers — the Battlefront series sold through 33 million units combined as of 2019, lootbox controversies and all.
Looking ahead, one of the biggest Star Wars titles in development is the single-player RPG Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic — produced, like Zero Company and Galactic Racer, by a brand-new developer: Arcanaut Studios, led by Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect veteran Casey Hudson.
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Source: GameSpot — read the full story there.
