It looks like the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sales and PlayStation 4 exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man has inspired Disney to invite more game developers to “reimagine” its IP.
That’s according to the entertainment powerhouse’s senior VP for games and interactive experiences Sean Shoptaw, who has emphasised that Disney is keen to open up its extensive range of properties to devs going forward at the 2020 DICE Summit (via The Hollywood Reporter). “I’m here for one specific reason: to empower you to do really unique things with our [catalogue]”, he said. “We want to tap into the power of creatives across the industry.”
Along with Marvel’s Spider-Man, which has had enormous success, selling 3.3 million copies in the three days after launch, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was cited by the executive as a valuable example of “reimagining” and original takes on Disney’s stories. He then invited devs to “come and play” with its IP, saying: “We want to dream big and look forward to all the things we can do together.”
This is a pretty significant offer, considering Disney now owns not only the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, but a raft of 20th Century Fox IP, too. Opening these properties to game devs could well see some of the company’s fictional universes continue to grow and grow – and most excitingly of all, potentially on our PCs.
This also marks an important step in the future of Disney games, following the company’s decision not to continue publishing its own games in 2016 after discontinuing its Disney Infinity line.
While Lucasfilm didn’t like the idea of Jedi: Fallen Order at first, the action-adventure game’s been an enormous success, having sold around eight million units at the time of publisher EA’s recent Q3 earnings call, and smashing its sales targets.
EA also revealed last year it had plans for another new Star Wars game after Jedi: Fallen Order, though there’s no sign this mysterious title will arrive before financial year 2022. If you’re yet to try EA’s 2019 game, check out our Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order review. Rich Scott-Jones gives it an eight out of ten, concluding: “Gameplay is solid from the start and gains depth, transforming you into a Jedi badass”, though it does have its “problems”.