Home Gaming Star Wars is a timeless IP that every developer wants to work on

Star Wars is a timeless IP that every developer wants to work on

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Star wars loving

EA’s executive vice president, Patrick Söderlund is a huge fan of Star Wars, and he’s not the only one. Apparently, despite all the “difficulties” of working on licensed material, everyone at DICE was amped to get their hands on Battlefront; it seems to be a developer’s dream in general to be a part of making a Star Wars game.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Söderlund explained the supposed difficulties of working with licensed material and how easy it was for the team.

Disney has been very supportive. Everyone said ‘big licenses are hard to work with, the licensors.’ There’s been a lot of guidelines and rules that you need to follow, but they’ve been very simple, and they’ve always felt right to follow them. We’ve never had a big, ‘what are you guys thinking, putting Jabba the Hutt here? That makes no sense.’
So yes, there’s obviously a lot of work that goes into making sure that it’s approved and everything, but it’s never been a big issue for us, which is pretty cool.

While it has its difficulties, apparently all of the developers wanted to work on the game. They are excited by the vision of where the franchise is going and want to be a part of it. So what makes Star Wars so great? Geoff might argue “nothing”, but it’s obviously a franchise that gets a whole lot of people from all walks of life incredibly passionate.

In full disclosure, I was a complete Star Wars fanatic, and I know me and my brother had a room dedicated to all the Star Wars toys we had, and we had so many of them, we worked weekends to just buy more Star Wars toys. I’m 41 today, but I also have a 10-year-old daughter who wants nothing more than for her and me to go to see Star Wars, and that’s interesting. There are other old brands, I’m not going to mention them, but that I’ve tried to show her, and she’s like, ‘What … This is stupid, why would I watch this,” so it just continues to cross over generations, which is kind of interesting,

That, I think, is because it’s so timeless in its design, and the story is simple yet very powerful. You have the idea of something dark and something evil against something good, and then, on top of that, the third part of it is like something mysterious, like, in the Force and what that means, and then, you know, brothers and sisters and it’s a very, very, I think, it’s a very inspiring universe… What I’m trying to say is, the picture they painted to us, and why we wanted to get into it is, that’s the power of the brand.

Ugh, I hate hearing Star Wars referred to as a brand, but I suppose that’s exactly what it is. It’s just weird for me that an IP like this is actually considered a brand by companies and publishers. Still, it is telling how powerful Star Wars is to a younger generation as well as their parents; it bridges all of the generational divides; it’s probably a forgone conclusion that Battlefront and the new movie will sell incredibly well. Now for me to finally buy all those LEGO sets I never had as a kid…

Last Updated: July 27, 2015

8 Comments

  1. BacchusZA

    July 27, 2015 at 22:00

    My earliest coherent memory is of walking out of the movie theatre, aged 4 or so, having watched Star Wars EP IV at launch, and going “ZOMG! ZOOOOMMMGG!!!! THAT WAS SO FUCKING COOOOOL!!”

    That was damn near 40 years ago now, and this franchise, brand, whatever, still has a HUGE impact on my taste in fiction and so forth.

    I honestly think that Mass Effect is better, has a deeper story and more “feels”, but Star Wars was most certainly my first love, even (parts of) the prequels, and will always be incredibly special to me. I’m really excited to see the new movie at the end of the year, & can’t wait to see what direction they go with in the new storyline 🙂

    Reply

    • Sageville

      July 28, 2015 at 09:54

      The universe of Star Wars has so many possibilities beyond the movies, fans will keep expanding it, which is awesome.

      Geoff and the likes may be naysayers (which is kinda pointless), but that can never diminish such a well established universe or that “ZOMG! ZOOOOMMMGG!!!! THAT WAS SO FUCKING COOOOOL!!” feels a lot of us got/still get when visiting the world of Star Wars.

      Reply

  2. Kromas,powered by windows 10.

    July 28, 2015 at 06:17

    Star Wars is not a “Brand”. It’s a lifestyle choice!

    Reply

  3. Hammersteyn

    July 28, 2015 at 07:43

  4. WitWolfy

    July 28, 2015 at 07:50

    I think Battlefront was mostly just smoke and mirrors at E3 this year.. But hey, thats me…

    Reply

  5. ZA Ludomusicologist

    July 28, 2015 at 08:14

    As a teenager, my sister and I watched Star Wars 4,5,6,1 in four winter evenings in the Free State in front of a fireplace. It is a timeless memory!

    Reply

  6. CypherGate

    July 28, 2015 at 08:56

    Ive never been a fan of star wars. Ok when I was a kid back then I was. As I got older my interest int he universe faded a lot. I dont really know what is the big deal about the Star Wars mythology, but I dont find any of it interesting. What I do find EXTREMELY interesting is the Mass Effect universe. Everything about Mass Effect is just far more interesting. I do however say that whoever (which is almost everyone lol) is loving Stars Wars please do enjoy it 🙂 The more of these games comes out for you (the good ones) the better for all gamers who enjoy them!

    Reply

  7. Andreea

    October 15, 2015 at 06:11

    Star Wars is such an splendid pop culture that even supermodel are making an effort to improve it’s icon! http://myspace.com/article/2015/8/4/photos-star-girls-burlesque

    Reply

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