Rogue One Writer: Pull EA's Star Wars License!

[Bullstomp]

I REALLY hope this is the first of many articles with high profile people calling for Disney to pull the Star Wars license from EA. After nearly 6 years with the license and only two lackluster releases I truly hope Disney opens the license up to other developers. 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/screenrant.com/gary-whitta-rogue-one-disney-ea-star-wars-license/amp/

 

Rogue One Writer Wants Disney to Pull Star Wars License Away From EA

 

by PHILLIP TINNER – on Jan 19, 2019 in GAME NEWS

 

     Gary Whitta, the co-writer of Rogue One and former editor-in-chief at PC Gamer, says Electronic Arts is mishandling a one-of-a-kind Star Wars licensing deal and that it's time for Disney to pull the plug on the publisher. This comes after EA's poorly received decision earlier this January to cancel yet another Star Wars game that was in the works, and Whitta's logic seems fairly sound. After five years of holding the exclusive rights to publish Star Wars games, EA has failed to uphold its end of a ten-year deal with Disney, and it may be time for the media giant to cut its losses and explore other options.

 

     The decade-long deal between Disney and EA was originally arranged in 2013, and at the time there were high hopes that EA's acquired studios DICE (Battlefield series), Respawn Entertainment (Titanfall series), and Visceral Games (Dead Space trilogy) would pump out a diverse array of high-quality titles exploring the Star Wars universe.

 

     However, it's now 2019, and only two Star Wars games have seen the light of day under EA's management: DICE's Star Wars Battlefront I and II. Ignoring that Star Wars Battlefront II missed sales targets and stirred the pot with its controversial loot boxes, EA has canceled as many Star Wars-licensed titles as it has published. Having canned Visceral's project, code-named Ragtag, and now halting EA Vancouver's attempt to make something of Ragtag's remnants. This leaves EA's release cycle only with whatever EA Vancouver is being ordered to rush out and Respawn's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and clearly neither of those are safe from cancellation, either.

 

     In the eyes of Gary Whitta, this is unacceptable and serves as grounds for Disney's revocation of the exclusive Star Wars license from EA. Whitta details his thought process and frustrations in a video interview with Kinda Funny Games, referring to EA's efforts as "an embarrassment." Musing that if he were in charge of the deal, he bluntly states, "I would just take the license away from EA because it's been catastrophically mismanaged." Aptly referring to a Star Wars deal on the caliber of EA's as "the crown jewel of video game franchise licenses," Whitta articulates, "If I was an EA shareholder, I'd be f-cking furious at the way [it's been handled]."

 

 

     Though Whitta says he has faith in the potential of Respawn's upcoming Star Wars game "to right the ship a little bit," he expresses nothing but perplexity at EA's thought process (or perhaps its lack thereof) when cancelling Visceral's and EA Vancouver's licensed titles, saying:

 

     "[Ragtag] basically would have been Star Wars Uncharted…My understanding of what they were saying all the way through was, 'But we don't want to make Star Wars Uncharted.' Well maybe don't hire the narrative director from the Uncharted games to make it for you then! Like, figure out what it is you actually want. So they cancel that, they throw their resources into this other, more ambitious game, and then they cancel that!"

 

     Reiterating his firm position against EA's continued sole control of Star Wars in the gaming sphere, Whitta makes the easy conclusion that if it it had been up to him and he "was able to see halfway through the deal what [he] would've got from [his] investment," there would have been "no way" that the Disney-EA deal would have ever taken place.

 

     Obviously, Whitta doesn't exercise any sort of control over Disney's business decisions, but his aggravation with EA's repeated failure to deliver much of anything of substance to the Star Wars universe echoes the bewilderment of countless Star Wars fans and gamers who are equally disappointed. In a timeframe similar to the length of time that EA has held its exclusive Star Wars license, more than a dozen Star Warsgames were released by LucasArts and other developers in the mid-2000s. When starkly contrasted with the whopping pair that EA has produced since 2013, public and industry expectations are put into considerable perspective. If the issue hasn't already been raised internally at Disney - and it's hard to imagine that it hasn't - it may be high time for Disney to weigh its options and end its lackluster partnership with EA.

[TJ_Solo]

All that shit over business as usual decisions:

 

Quote

When EA’s top decision-makers looked at their road map for the next few years, they decided that they needed something earlier than the planned release date for Orca, according to two people familiar with what happened. So they cancelled Orca in favor of a smaller-scale Star Warsproject that’s now aimed for much sooner—likely, late 2020, which also happens to be around the time that I’ve heard next-gen consoles will launch. (Might be a bit earlier; might be a bit later. From what I’ve heard, next-gen plans are definitely still in flux.)

https://kotaku.com/ea-cancels-open-world-star-wars-game-1831786371

 

 

So a project that was early in development was cancelled in favor of making another game that would release sooner. 

Goodness, you reactionary numb-skulls were all raised on Fox News and TMZ.

[KingGuy420]

I'm a pretty firm believer that Rogue One was a massively overhyped turd. So for some odd reason, the writers opinion on the state of the franchise isn't particularly high on my list of things I care about lol.

 

At least I got a little enjoyment out of EA's games. More than I can say for Rogue One.

Edited January 20, 2019 by KingGuy420

[Lance_87]

Hopefully the removal of the license will come naturally. Actually it should've happened shortly after the Battlefront II fiasco.

[AJ_Radio]

EA is why Star Wars games went to shit.

[Sinastran]

1 hour ago, Bullstomp said:

I REALLY hope this is the first of many articles with high profile people calling for Disney to pull the Star Wars license from EA. After nearly 6 years with the license and only two lackluster releases I truly hope Disney opens the license up to other developers. 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/screenrant.com/gary-whitta-rogue-one-disney-ea-star-wars-license/amp/

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing! I do hope other developers and publishers can have a go at the franchise soon. Imagine CD Projekt Red creating an open world rpg with the same quality as Witcher 3. Or Sony sealing the deal on another exclusive (seeing as how they already made it work with Marvel) to kick off the early years of the next generation. The Star Wars franchise and universe has too much potential and too many corners to explore to leave it solely in the hands of EA's neglectful care.

[Cleggworth]

He's right. A franchise as massive as star wars to only have battlefront 1 and 2 in that time frame is pretty perplexing tbh

[Super-Fly Spider-Guy]

Since EA got the license I've got

 

Jedi Starfighter, Bounty Hunter, Racer Revenge, and Super Star Wars on PS4

Battlefront (2004) and Battlefront II (2005) on Xbox One

Lego Complete Saga, Lego 3, Force Unleashed, Force Unleashed 2, on 360 when they hit BC

Force Unleashed, Battlefront 2 (2005), Lego 3, BF: Elite Squadron on PSP to toss my physical copies (God I wish Lego SW 2 was digi)

Battlefront (2015) and Battlefront 2 (2017) on PS4.

Oh, I forgot, I also bought a copy of Disney Infinity 3 (and the ANH and TFA sets) for both myself and a friend

 

They're just the digital ones, so 16 there. I also bought Lego TFA on PS4 AND Vita, so 18 "sales" so far, all of which would be contributing to overall sales and income, this is to say nothing of all the other Star Wars games I've picked up preowned here and there, got a copy of Clone Wars on 360 a few months back, picked up Lego 2 on 360 for 3 bucks a while back was stoked to see it hit BC and popped another 1000GS, all 3 Legos on original DS, Lego 2 on PSP digitally, a non platinum copy of Ep 3 on PS2, TFU on PS2, Lethal Alliance on DS and so fucking on, there's a tonne more, that's not the point, the point is I'm still buying and enjoying the recently released Star Wars games.

 

Oh, I forgot, I also bought a copy of Disney Infinity 3 (and the ANH and TFA sets) for both myself and a friend

 

Well, enjoying most of them.

 

Both of the rebooted Battlefront games are so average and mediocre it's not even funny, and you know what, I could actually forgive Battlefront 2 for being just another shooter in a Star Wars skin if I could at least play *ALL* the content offline, but I can't, I can play dick all of it, and online just does not fucking interest me at all, but whatever. 2 out of 20 is by no means bad, that's a 90% success / enjoyment rate, everyone makes mistakes, it's all good man, 2 out of 20 is absolutely nothing, that's a great record.

 

Wait.

 

Wait, there's a pattern.

 

It seems that I will enjoy just about any Star Wars game I can get my hands on, it seems that most of them are unique enough from their predecessors or well made enough that I can have a right good time playing through them. Those two though, the pattern, maybe it's that series, maybe shooters aren't for me? Nope, wait, BFII 2005 is my equal second favorite game of all time, can't be that. Maybe the new ones are shit then? What's different about these two games to every other Star Wars game I've ever played?

 

Oh right, they're the only ones made by EA out of all of them. They're also really generic, have nothing unique going for them, lock a tonne of their content behind multiplayer, forced you to buy a ridiculously priced season pass the first time if you wanted to overall have even half a game's worth of content, had that whole thing with microtransactions where they straight out lied and shit all over their userbase, and also come from the company that cancelled multiple promising SW games, is the reason 1313 won't ever happen, and still hasn't given me a new Simpsons game in over a decade. 

 

I love a good rant. Though shout out to Disney Infinity, and Lego, for ignoring EA's deal and just making their own fucking Star Wars game anyway, really weird, but they are by fucking far the best Star Wars games to come out since Force Unleashed 2. Also Disney Infinity 2 is genuinely great and deserved better.

 

Addendum:

 

I actually bought Battlefront 2015 on PS4 on disc, for both myself and a friend. I later bought the digital complete version when it was on super sale, so add 2 more sales for that game. Battlefront 2 2017 I bought on PS4 digitally (preordered actually, as a birthday gift for the previous friend) and that game dropped so low so quick I couldn't have regretted it more, could have bought us both a copy for the same price and had some change but fuck, at least I didn't give them 2 sales. What I did give them though, was me counting as a player on BF 2015 and BF 2017 through EA Access so that's like another half sale as I'd be counted in the overall player base. Those new Battlefront games are just so disappointing it's not even funny. Like when that reboot was announced at EA, I was watching live and I swear, if I wasn't the limp dick piece of shit I am, my erection would have made a hole in my roof. 

 

Addendum II: 

 

While watching the Kinda Funny interview with Witta they mentioned The Old Republic, I also bought KOTOR on Android, and on Xbox digitally (and also picked up a disc copy for cheap as well). Funny how that game isn't too bad either, and also isn't an EA one. Also, mini extra, I'll be grabbing Republic Commando and the other BC Xbox games if they ever go on sale too, but right now, I'm happy with my disc copies of most of them.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Super-Fly Spider-Guy

[Bullstomp]

1 hour ago, TJ_Solo said:

All that shit over business as usual decisions:

 

https://kotaku.com/ea-cancels-open-world-star-wars-game-1831786371

 

 

So a project that was early in development was cancelled in favor of making another game that would release sooner. 

Goodness, you reactionary numb-skulls were all raised on Fox News and TMZ.

 

So you'd prefer a game rushed through production than a quality game that takes some time to program. More power to you.

 

Btw name calling on people who have a different opinion is pretty weak. I guess your opinion is the only valid one? Where do you get yours, CNN?

[SnowxSakura]

2 hours ago, TJ_Solo said:

All that shit over business as usual decisions:

 

https://kotaku.com/ea-cancels-open-world-star-wars-game-1831786371

 

 

So a project that was early in development was cancelled in favor of making another game that would release sooner. 

Goodness, you reactionary numb-skulls were all raised on Fox News and TMZ.

Better question is why are you always talking down to people like you're better than everyone else?

 

 

[djb5f]

Well I preferred Battlefront I to Rogue One so...

[Durandal]

4 hours ago, TJ_Solo said:

All that shit over business as usual decisions

 

So a project that was early in development was cancelled in favor of making another game that would release sooner.

That's not the point. The problem is that EA obviously don't know what to do with a valuable license like Star Wars. And while it is true that the game wasn't in development that long it was still a redesign with substantial assets from the original design. Furthermore who cancels a project with Amy Henning at the helm and a studio like Visceral Game as the developer in the first place? And that they canceled this new game now is no surprise if you ask me, they simply didn't make enough money! Both Battlefront games weren't received well by fans and critics alike, so it is safe to assume that they weren't as profitable as EA would have hoped they would be and now having to invest in a game that would take years to finish isn't that profitable either. So EA got cold feet again and now they start to chop the license into small pieces and make a bunch of small games in the hopes to earn enough money to pay for the license. I guess they announce a Battlefront game for iOS and Android soon. I mean if Blizzard can do it why not EA, right?!

 

But it also shows who stupid Disney really was to hand the license to just one company. It would have been way better to make a deal with several studios/publishers. It is safe to say that we would have seen really good games already this way. But that is what's wrong with this business nowadays, it is all about the money, but I guess it is no secret anymore.

 

And while I am at it, maybe it is time that all these big time publishers start to realize that it is more important to understand the market and not just look at the profit. It isn't that hard, Sony delivers really good games on a regular basis even Ubisoft does, of course they can still do better. But they seem to understand what the fans want and they are willing to take risks. And what is EA is doing? Remaking the same bunch of games every year for more then a decade now, because it is the easy way! And along the way they shut down every franchise that wasn't profitable enough. And now they even don't even come up with any exciting game anymore, instead they shy away from everything that seems to be too risky. And a company like this should be solely in charge of making Star Wars games?! Hell no!

Edited January 20, 2019 by Durandal

[KingGuy420]

12 minutes ago, Durandal said:

The problem is that EA obviously don't know what to do with a valuable license like Star Wars

 

Is it a valuable license though? Has there ever been a hugely successful Star Wars game?

 

I guess there is one... Old Republic... An EA game. They won't lose the license as long as Old Republic is still bringing in those subscriber dollars.

 

Edit - Did a little research and it seems the last Battlefront is one of the highest selling Star Wars game. Also made by EA. Yeah, they're gonna lose the license for sure lol.

Edited January 20, 2019 by KingGuy420

[Durandal]

@KingGuy420

There has been I think, but it is more then just the profit aspect. It is about the entertaining aspect too and what the name Star Wars brings to the table for any developer.

 

As for the games, well there was Knights of the Old Republic (not an EA game) and the Jedi Knight games. Tie Fighter and most of the old Star Wars games and the first Battlefront I suppose. Sure they might not have made a shitload of money like some games these days but that's exactly what I was talking about. Make game for the fans and not for your shareholders!

 

Maybe I should have said "rich" because Star Wars has so much to offer when it comes to things like characters and the universe itself. And because of that it really boggles the mind that most games never really made a shitload of money so I guess you are right. But I am a gamer and not a shareholder. And maybe it just shows what's wrong with us consumers too, we tend to spend way too much money on shit like Battlefront and Fifa Games while the real gems barely make enough money to pay the rent, so to speak. And the weird thing is that we start to complain about this every time we realize that these companies just drain our wallets with the same crap year after year. But do we stop supporting this businenss? Of course not!

Edited January 20, 2019 by Durandal

[kidson2004]

I'm all for Disney pulling the game from EA. The only Star Wars game I've ever enjoyed was The Force Unleashed. Haven't played any other Star Wars games since as they don't appeal to me or was rushed, broken, etc. 

[KingGuy420]

9 minutes ago, Durandal said:

Maybe I should have said "rich" because Star Wars has so much to offer when it comes to things like characters and the universe itself.

 

There's some truth to that. But I don't think EA is the problem. Disney giving EA exclusive rights to the license is the issue. There's no reason EA couldn't do their thing and still allow other devs to take a crack too. That's the side of it I don't understand. To be fair though, Disney has always had issues with video game licensing.

[Durandal]

25 minutes ago, KingGuy420 said:

 

There's some truth to that. But I don't think EA is the problem. Disney giving EA exclusive rights to the license is the issue. There's no reason EA couldn't do their thing and still allow other devs to take a crack too. That's the side of it I don't understand. To be fair though, Disney has always had issues with video game licensing.

Yeah they have, although I have only limited knowledge of Disneys involvement in the gaming world. Maybe it is because Disney has a different perspective and wants to focus on the family market given their history. And EA has made a lot of money with all their sports licenses, so they probably thought it would be a win win deal for both of them. Oh well, the gaming world seemed so simple back in the 80s when games were made in the garage and we bought them directly from the people who made them. But then again I hardly paid for my games back then. Whoops did I say that out loud?! ?

Edited January 20, 2019 by Durandal

[Bullstomp]

15 minutes ago, KingGuy420 said:

 

There's some truth to that. But I don't think EA is the problem. Disney giving EA exclusive rights to the license is the issue. There's no reason EA couldn't do their thing and still allow other devs to take a crack too. That's the side of it I don't understand. To be fair though, Disney has always had issues with video game licensing.

 

This was the whole point of the thread if you take a look at this sentence in my initial post:

 

"After nearly 6 years with the license and only two lackluster releases I truly hope Disney opens the license up to other developers."

[KingGuy420]

10 minutes ago, Bullstomp said:

 

This was the whole point of the thread if you take a look at this sentence in my initial post:

 

"After nearly 6 years with the license and only two lackluster releases I truly hope Disney opens the license up to other developers."

 

I wouldn't say that's what the whole thread is about. One line out of a wall of text but OK.

 

And "lackluster" is debatable. Battlefront 1 was the highest selling Star Wars game and Battlefront 2 did well despite the hate too. Not to mention Old Republic is one of the more successful MMO's, and the multiple mobile games all perform incredibly well. Disney just cares about the numbers. They couldn't care less what average Joe gamer wants lol.

Edited January 20, 2019 by KingGuy420

[Conor]

5 hours ago, TJ_Solo said:

All that shit over business as usual decisions:

 

https://kotaku.com/ea-cancels-open-world-star-wars-game-1831786371

 

 

So a project that was early in development was cancelled in favor of making another game that would release sooner. 

Goodness, you reactionary numb-skulls were all raised on Fox News and TMZ.

 

Why is it that you're so laughably wrong in every thread you post in?

[Caesar Clown]

No. Wait until Respawn releases the Star Wars game they've been working on, then you can take the license away.

 

Why is this an issue anyways? Disney doesn't know how to handle video game licenses, they always sell them then think they can open their own studio and make their own games. A few years later, it's fire everyone and sell the rights out again.

[Bullstomp]

12 minutes ago, KingGuy420 said:

 

I wouldn't say that's what the whole thread is about. One line out of a wall of text but OK.

 

And "lackluster" is debatable. Battlefront 1 was the highest selling Star Wars game and Battlefront 2 did well despite the hate too. Not to mention Old Republic is one of the more successful MMO's, and the multiple mobile games all perform incredibly well. Disney just cares about the numbers. They couldn't care less what average Joe gamer wants lol.

That wall of text is the actual article; I made my opinion known in the paragraph that preceded it.

 

Battlefront 1 had significant backlash due to DLC. It did well because its Star Wars, not because it was an awesome game.

 

Battlefront 2 did worse because:

 

1. People started getting wise to EA's shit after the first 1

 

2. The whole microtransaction debacle

 

3. EAs initial response to the microtransaction backlash (Pride and accomplishment or Pink Darth Vader anyone?)

 

We shall see what happens but I for one would love to see another publisher get a shot, like CD Projekt Red, dare I say, FROM software. 

 

 

[Elvick_]

5 hours ago, TJ_Solo said:

All that shit over business as usual decisions:

 

https://kotaku.com/ea-cancels-open-world-star-wars-game-1831786371

 

 

So a project that was early in development was cancelled in favor of making another game that would release sooner. 

Goodness, you reactionary numb-skulls were all raised on Fox News and TMZ.

To those who wonder why companies like EA exist and are successful. This is a large part of it. People like yourself.

How on Earth could you think that's a neutral thing? Consumers don't have to answer to stock holders so it's irrelevant. Beyond that, they can easily continue to develop a game that may take longer and start development on a safer, easier game to push out faster. But it's EA so odds are that rush job will suck. And that sucks, because there's no game for anyone to look forward to that will offset the inevitable mediocrity [at best], loot boxed ridden nonsense they toss the SW brand on this time.

This is literally the game they were already reusing assets from *another* cancelled project for. This is what Amy Hennig's game died for, and now it's dead too. And we got fuck all out of it. They've had EXCLUSIVE access to the Star Wars brand for how many years now, and so far all they have to show for it is two Battlefront games which fans hated and showed tremendous drop off from the first to second title. We have just as many cancelled SW games that looked far more promising, even if they wouldn't have been able to milk consumers for thousands of dollars in loot boxes to play. Battlefront 2 was such a fuck up they got the ball rolling on governments around the world getting involved in regulating loot boxes.

That's not "business as usual" that's a colossal failure.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Elvick_

[Conker]

I'm all for this, both battlefront games have been average at best and EA has proven they just want that microtransaction/lootbox money more then making a competent game. Though i blame Disney for giving it to them in the 1st place

[djb5f]

I am not an EA supporter (or hater really) but a lot of what they do is not any different than many of the other major studios (Ubisoft, 2K, etc.)  Microtransactions, very little change and re-using assets game to game, etc.