Ubisoft is working on a game of Star Wars open world, with importance in the narrative, along with Lucasfilm Games. The Division developer Ubisoft Massive will be in charge of developing the new game. According to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, the agreement will mark the beginning of a “long-term collaboration” with Disney.
No other details of the game have been announced, and Massive is “actively recruiting” for the project. The game will use the Snowdrop engine, used for the studio’s The Division games. Additionally, it has been confirmed that The Division 2 director Julian Gerighty will also direct this project. No indication has been given as to whether Massive’s Star Wars game will be single or multiplayer, what part of the Star Wars timeline it will be a part of, or when it could be released.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot anticipated some data speaking to Wired, saying that the game will be “an original Star Wars adventure that is unlike anything that’s been done before”. Lucasfilm also told Wired that all Star Wars games would continue to be treated as canon alongside movie, book, and comic book releases.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Star Wars games will be incorporated into a new unique brand called Lucasfilm Games. Yesterday Lucasfilm Games also announced that MachineGames and Bethesda are working on an Indiana Jones game.
In 2013, EA and Disney announced a multi-year licensing agreement that gave EA exclusive rights to publish Star Wars games developed by its in-house studios. That deal now appears to have been modified, but EA “It will continue to be a very strategic and important partner for us now and in the future”said Sean Shoptaw, Disney Senior Vice President of Global Games and Interactive Experiences, speaking with Wired.
The Wired report makes it clear that Disney will accept proposals from companies about the use of Star Wars and other Lucas properties (such as Indiana Jones), although Lucasfilm Games Vice President Douglas Reilly confirmed that Lucasfilm Games would have final approval from all Projects.
The deal with EA produced games such as DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront 1 and 2, Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and EA Motive’s Star Wars: Squadrons. However, there were also some high-profile cancellations, including Amy Hennig’s Project Ragtag, which was in development at the now-defunct Visceral Games.
For their part, The Division games are set in a fictional version of the United States during cataclysmic events that force members of an elite military unit known as the Strategic Division of the Homeland to rebuild the cities of the United States. Both games featured service items where players would continually work on their characters and earn new gear by completing high-level objectives. Massive has also been working on an Avatar game for several years, which was recently pushed back to 2022.