Electronic Arts plans to 'double down' on Star Wars games

Star Wars: Squadrons — (Image credit: EA)

Remember way, way back, when Electronic Arts' handling of the Star Wars license seemed so shaky that Disney had to reassure investors that it had a "good relationship" with the company? Yeah, that was last year. Things have improved since then, and now EA CEO Andrew Wilson says that the publisher plans to "double down" on its partnership with Disney going forward.

"We have a tremendous relationship with Disney. We have a tremendous relationship with Lucas," Wilson said, as reported by Gamespot. "We have a longstanding relationship with them going all the way back to Star Wars The Old Republic that we launched in 2011."

As mentioned, EA didn't have the smoothest start after signing its exclusive Star Wars licensing deal with Disney. Anticipated games were canceled, studios fell apart, and Star Wars: Battlefront 2's handling of loot boxes sparked a lasting furor. We even kicked around some thoughts about who should get the Star Wars license if Disney saw fit to take it aw a y from EA.

Following that, Battlefront 2 matured into "the best Star Wars game we've had in years," in Fraser's estimation, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order released and was a hit, and there's now real excitement around the recently-announced dogfighting sim Star Wars: Squadrons. EA's recent return to Steam also promises to expand the potential audience for future Star Wars releases.

"We've had success in first-person shooters, in RPGs, in action adventure, in MMORPGs, in mobile, and I believe we're going to have success with Squadrons as well," Wilson said. "We're going to double down on that partnership. Disney continues to be very very committed to the IP and to the canon."

During the same event, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said the relationship is strong enough that it's been allowed to create all new characters and content for its games, including Fallen Order and Squadrons, that are considered part of the official Star Wars canon.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.