“Our E3 briefing “The Download: EA 2013 Preview” will be a showcase of next-generation games like Battlefield 4, Need For Speed, a full range of EA SPORTS games and a first look at our plans for the Star Wars partnership with Disney. Tune in on Monday, June 10 at 1pm PT on Spike TV or at www.ea.com/e3 to experience it all. I’m eager to your reaction in the comments and the forums, Facebook and Twitter.”

I’m not sure what to expect from this new ownership with EA, but hopefully they will talk about revisiting some of Star Wars classics like *ahem* Battlefront, Knights of the Old Republic and Republic Commando. Either way, it will be nice to get some information on what they are planning!

What are your thoughts on what they plan to reveal?

Tune into the live broadcast on Spike TV or checkout the live stream at ea.com/e3 on June 10th, 2013.

“Jorgensen further explained that its new Star Wars games stand to benefit from the marketing potential at Disney, a company that owns many consumer-focused enterprises like amusement parks, film studios, cruise lines, and media outlets.

“These aren’t movie games, per se; these are stand-alone games,” Jorgensen said. “But obviously they would come out near the movies and be able to tailgate off of some of the buzz that will be created around the new Star Wars movies.”

So there you have it, there still is hope for our Battlefront 3 after all! There also seems to be a lot of mixed feelings that EA will be creating the new (or sequel) to one of the best games ever made. In my opinion, this is a good thing. After so many disappointments over the years, I am just happy that someone is finally looking at getting this game created for us! Now whether it is done right or not is a different story and will always be a lingering feeling in the back of my mind.

So what is your take on EA on creating a potential Battlefront 3 or a new Battlefront altogether?

According to Kotaku (via WallStreetJournal):

“The office isn’t a development studio per se; it’s there to “help with recruiting talent” for the company’s upcoming Star Wars games, which the report says are still in the very early stages of planning.

As much as I know you all like to be kept up to date on video game recruitment drives, the really interesting part of the story is near the end, where DICE General Manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson tells the WSJ the developers “are looking at either creating an entirely new experience or piggybacking on an older Star Wars game series”.”

Also, according to IGN.com:

A tweet from the Battlefield account has revealed some of the jobs on offer in the new LA-based studio, offering some insight into what DICE LA will be working on.

PC users may be interested to hear that the gameplay engineer role should have experience of work on PC titles, as well as “experience developing and supporting back end game play systems in a client-server environment (e. g. MMO)”, though seeing as Star Wars: The Old Republic is still rolling on, we can’t see EA rushing to take another Star Wars MMO to market just yet.

I really do love the sound of piggybacking on an older Star Wars game series!! Mmmmmm Battlefront 3 in our future, I smell!! I would also absolutely die for a Knights of the Old Republic 3.. not a MMO though, just a regular old RPG!

The last Battlefront game, Star Wars Battlefront 2, came out in October 2005 for the PlayStation 2, PSP, original Xbox and PC.

What do you think? Is this looking good now for Battlefront 3?

Today it was announced that Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney Interactive are entering into a multi-year, multi-title exclusive licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) for the creation of new high quality Star Wars games spanning multiple genres for console, PC, mobile, and tablets.

More information, including titles in development, will be announced in the coming months. Continue to check StarWars.com for updates on the future of Star Wars gaming.

So this could be potentially a good thing! According to IGN.com, Frank Gibeau (EA Labels president), three studios are already working on Star Wars games: Battlefield developer DICE, Dead Space developer Visceral and Mass Effect developer BioWare. Lets hope BioWare is working on a Knights of the Old Rebpublic 3! Wouldn’t that be totally sweet.

Thoughts and opinions!

Kotaku.com has come into the spotlight again and released some great information on LucasArts and the last months that eventually lead to their shutdown by Disney, and… wait for it! A sneak peak at what could have been Battlefront 3. The original post by Kotaku.com revealed leaked footage that was Star Wars: First Assault, and according to Kotaku.com, First Assault did not include any vehicles. The second video they just posted (code named “Version Two”) was intended to be released as Battlefront 3.

In the coming months, up until just a couple of weeks ago, LucasArts staff were working on three projects: Star Wars: First Assault, Star Wars 1313, and a smaller project internally referred to as “Version Two,” according to two sources familiar with the situation.

This is because, according to multiple sources, developers at LucasArts planned to turn Version Two into Star Wars: Battlefront III, the highly-anticipated third game in the Battlefront shooter series that has shuffled from developer to developer over the past few years. This time, LucasArts hoped to make it themselves.

Check out the full article here.

I swear if Disney screwed up our chances for Battlefront 3, I am going to extremely pissed as I am sure a lot of my fellow Battlefrontians probably will be.

So now we are sitting here and have no clue what’s in store for us in the future. What a bummer…

Thoughts and opinions?!

Video below:

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

It seems that as of now we can assume that all LucasArts projects are on hold, possibly indefinitely. Disney will likely retain all the assets but would have to license out the development job with no internal team to work on the projects. That likely means we won’t be seeing 1313, First Assault and of course, Battlefront 3, for quite some time.

Despite LucasArts disappearing and the oncoming drought of Star Wars video games we still have the new trilogy to look forward to. Disney will almost certainly release all new Star Wars media upon the trilogy’s debut in 2015. That means we have quite some time to wait before we see anything substantial in the video game side of Star Wars and hopefully it will be worth the wait.

For extended information on LucasArts shutting down check out the GameInformer article.

For a video synopsis and alternate analysis check out HelloGreedo’s video.

Today they have posted 2 video clips of game play footage from Star Wars: First Assault! It actually looks really, really good and I can now see why everyone has dubbed it a Call of Duty knock off.

“We’ve got two clips of First Assault, both cut from a trailer that was designed for internal use at LucasArts back in October/November. This is footage from an older version of the game, and may not be a perfect reflection of what First Assault looks like today, but given that LucasArts won’t talk about the game, this is all we’ve got.”

“The second clip contains gameplay footage from Star Wars: First Assault. In this clip, you can see stormtroopers and rebels battling across various Star Wars locales, like the desert planet Tatooine. It’s very reminiscent of multiplayer mode in a first-person shooter like Call of Duty or Battlefield or Lucas’s own Star Wars: Battlefront.”

Update from Kotaku:

“UPDATE: Following a takedown request sent from Lucasfilm’s legal department to our parent company, Gawker Media, we have removed both videos. Lucasfilm claims copyright on them and has also been pulling down versions of these clips that were ripped onto other sites on the Internet. We can assume that the next time you’ll see the game—if you see it again—will be when Lucasfilm wants you to.”

Star Wars: First Assault Leaked Gameplay by starwarsfirstassault

Let me know what you think! Love to hear some opinions on these!

Check out the new screenshots courtesy of Kotaku.com:

I also wanted to touch base on a new partnership between Battlefront3.net and Gloom Walkers! Gloom Walkers was initially run by our old partner in crime Tuggie. When Tuggie retired, Gloom Walkers was resurrected under new administration. We are happy to resume our partnership which will bring some fantastic video reviews! I will make another post later on this week to touch base more about our new partnership and post some videos!

In the meantime, check out their site at: Gloom Walkers

Thoughts and opinions welcomed as always!

“The game supports up to 16 players—one eight-person team of rebels and one eight-person team of Stormtroopers—as they face off on Star Wars worlds like Bespin and Tatooine.”

Now according to Kotaku.com’s sources, Star Wars: First Assault is a “step zero” or “predeccessor” to Star Wars: Battlefront 3:

“First Assault is “step zero” to the heavily-rumored, highly-anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront III. If First Assault sells well—assuming it is released at all—the third Battlefront could be next.

There are no vehicles in First Assault, nor are there Jedi. LucasArts intentionally decided not to use the Battlefront name so expectations wouldn’t be too high, our source says. And the game is almost done.”

Here comes the kicker. Their source reports that First Assault may never see the light of day due to the fact that when LucasArts found out that Disney was involved in purchasing the company and things went sour.

“Last September, when executives at LucasFilm—the parent company of LucasArts—found out that Disney had signed an agreement to purchase the company, things got murky. LucasFilm froze all hiring and new game announcements, our source says. They had planned to announce First Assault and launch a closed beta by the end of September—which explains the Xbox listing leak on October 1—and First Assault was supposed to be out this spring.

So since September, employees at LucasArts have been working on the game with no knowledge as to whether or not it will actually come out. According to our source, LucasArts is “bleeding talent” as employees wait to see what executives at Disney and LucasFilm want to do with First Assault and other games the studio is working on.”

So now it looks like this game is in the same boat as Star Wars: 1313. A big fat sinking boat. Kotaku has contacted LucasArts and will update when they hear back from them. Their source has said the only way we are going to get the games we want is for us (the fans), to speak up and give them our demands!

“Fans should tell Disney/Lucas loud and clear they don’t want shitty titles from random developers; they want games to be taken seriously, and they will only pay for quality,” the source said. “I believe that if Disney/Lucas lets LucasArts die, it means the death of Star Wars as a storied game franchise is right behind it.”

Hell yeah! Lets hear those thoughts and opinions now!

HUGE thanks to Kotaku.com for the great job reporting this!

Enjoy!

Battlefront 3 Infographic