Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
Electronic Arts hasn't exactly had a great track record with Star Wars since partnering with Disney in 2013, but it seems the House of Mouse is fine with the publisher's efforts despite all the missteps.
Speaking during an earnings call (via PC Gamer), Disney CEO Bob Iger conceded that the entertainment giant isn't too hot at publishing video games, and therefore is happy to let EA handle that side of things. In particular, he notes that Disney has enjoyed a 'good' relationship with the publishing behemoth.
'Over the years, as you know, we’ve tried our hand at self-publishing, we’ve bought companies, we’ve sold companies, we’ve bought developers, we’ve closed developers,' he said. 'And we’ve found over the years that we haven’t been particularly good at the self-publishing side, but we’ve been great at the licensing side which obviously doesn’t require that much allocation of capital.'
'Since we’re allocating capital in other directions … we’ve just decided that the best place for us to be in that space is licensing and not publishing. We’ve had good relationships with some of those we’re licensing to, notably EA and the relationship on the Star Wars properties, and we’re probably going to stay on that side of the business and put our capital elsewhere.'
The Star Wars brand has had a few ups and downs under EA. Notably, Star Wars Battlefront II suffered from a huge amount of backlash over its implementation of loot boxes, and Visceral Games' closure resulted in one major project being revamped, and then reportedly cancelled outright.
EA will publish another Star Wars game later this year, in the shape of Respawn's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The company also said that it remains 'fully committed' to making new games in the franchise.
