LucasFilm Games Announces New “Star Wars” And “Indiana Jones” Titles
It may not have been in a galaxy far, far away, but it definitely was long ago when LucasArts closed its doors for good in 2013. Now, a pair of announcements from the recently rebranded Lucasfilm Games have fans looking forward to new experiences from some of George Lucas‘s classic franchises, Indiana Jones and Star Wars (Well, unless you’re a fan of the Lego video games, in which case you’ve had plenty to enjoy in recent years).
First, Bethesda Softworks surprised everyone by tweeting out a teaser for a new Indiana Jones video game that is currently in the works.
— Bethesda (@bethesda) January 12, 2021
In a follow-up tweet, Bethesda revealed that the great Todd Howard, famous director/producer of the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, will executive produce the game, which is being developed by subsidiary studio MachineGames. Needless to say for a teaser that is barely 30 seconds long, there are precious few details to be gleaned about the upcoming title, which ironically doesn’t even have a title yet. However, if you were worried that Bethesda would try to create an Indiana Jones game without the character’s iconic hat and whip, rest assured that both feature prominently in the brief clip. Just don’t expect to see more anytime soon, as Bethesda clarified, “It’ll be some time before we have more to reveal, but we’re very excited to share today’s news!”
In other news, Lucasfilm Games also announced a partnership with game developer Ubisoft to create a new open-world Star Wars game. Massive Entertainment, which recently worked on Tom Clancy’s The Division and its sequel, will take the reins for this new story-driven project, and it may be just the first of many projects in the iconic sci-fi series in the pipeline. Electronic Arts previously had exclusive rights to develop games for the franchise, which produced a disappointingly short list of games including two Battlefront titles and Jedi: Fallen Order. That agreement appears to be coming to an end, however, and Lucasfilm is reportedly looking to work with other studios to develop games in the future. Douglas Reilly, VP of Lucasfilm Games, tells StarWars.com, “We’re looking to work with best-in-class teams that can make great games across all of our IP.” That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t expect any more EA Star Wars games, just that we shouldn’t expect only EA Star Wars games for the foreseeable future. For anyone who isn’t a fan of predatory microtransactions, more variety in the Star Wars gaming universe is likely welcome news, even if it has yet to produce anything tangible.
Which classic Lucasfilm franchise are you more excited to see revived in gaming form? Does the trailer get you hyped to take on the famed archaeologist’s treasure-hunting new adventure? Will you be busting out the lightsaber or blaster pistol to take up residence on Tatooine or Kashyyyk? Most importantly, with these big franchise announcements out of the way, when do you think we’ll hear more about a follow-up to classic LucasArts franchises like Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacle?! (Okay, we can dream.) Let us know in the comments below and follow us @FilmIronic on Twitter to stay up to date on all things entertainment!
