Star Wars: Disney, EA sign multi-year publishing deal

EA has announced that it has signed an exclusive multi-year publishing deal with The Walt Disney Company for the Star Wars franchise, with games to come from BioWare, DICE and Visceral.

The deal will allow Electronic Arts to develop and publish brand new Star Wars videogames for multiple interactive platforms.

John Pleasant, Disney Interactive's Co-President issued the following statement:

“This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come. Collaborating with one of the world’s premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to our fans around the world.”

The terms of the agreement will give EA rights to make and publish Star Wars games, but Disney will also be retaining the rights to develop new Star Wars games for mobile, social and online game categories respectively.

EA's president Frank Gibeau told that it'll use the services of three of its studios, BioWare, DICE, and Visceral for making new Star Wars titles.

This is the first big Star Wars deal that Disney has made since it bought the Star Wars franchise from LucasFilms in October 2012. It went on to close the studio responsible for making Star Wars games last month.

However, this isn't the first time that EA will be publishing Star Wars games, as it's been responsible for publishing the well known Star Wars: The Old Republic and other Star Wars titles in the past.