Ubisoft Massive Developing Open World Star Wars Game
By Noam Radcliffe | Jan 13, 2021, 2:33 PM EST
Ubisoft Massive Entertainment leads development on a new story-driven open world game set in the Star Wars universe, Wired reported Wednesday. It will be the first Star Wars game to be made without EA since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, ending nearly eight years of exclusivity.
Julian Gerighty, director of Massive's previous titles The Division 2 and The Crew, will play the part of creative director. The game will run on Massive's Snowdrop engine. Massive is currently recruiting for work on the title, which is early development.
In the eight years since EA signed the deal, the publisher has released four games (two Battlefronts, Jedi Fallen Order, Squadrons) and canceled at least three (Ragtag, Orca, Viking). Don't think that's quite the decade Frank Gibeau was hoping for
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 13, 2021
The Star Wars game will be a "departure from the world of The Division" and "totally different" from the studio's previous work, according to a Q&A on Ubisoft's website featuring Gerighty.
Although EA's exclusivity deal has lapsed or changed, Wired reports it will continue to develop Star Wars games. The newly minted Lucasfilm Games label will oversee production of other Star Wars games.
Lucasfilm Games also oversees the Indiana Jones game in development at MachineGames and published by Bethesda.