It’s possible there could be significant changes ahead within the Force, according to recent reports, as it seems Kathleen Kennedy, current president of Lucasfilm, is planning to step down later this year. Since Disney took over Lucasfilm in 2012, she has been responsible for managing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series.
According to Puck, Kennedy has indicated to Disney and others that she intends to resign from Lucasfilm. However, Variety, another reliable source, mentioned that their insider claims nothing is set in stone at this point. Kennedy spearheaded the return of Star Wars to the big screen with the sequel trilogy, starting from The Force Awakens in 2015 up until The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. Beyond the Skywalker Saga, she also initiated projects like Rogue One and Solo: A Star Wars Story, not to mention the numerous Disney+ series.
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One field where Kennedy appeared to maintain a distance was the gaming industry. For example, her profile on the Lucasfilm website as president does not mention any contributions to games launched during the past decade or so (although her name is sometimes listed in game credits, like in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor). Not long after Kennedy took over as Lucasfilm president, Disney and Electronic Arts announced a partnership for console games in 2013. This partnership resulted in two titles – Star Wars Battlefront (2015) and Star Wars Battlefront II (2017), with Disney praising EA as a “good” partner in 2019. Together, these two Battlefront games sold approximately 33 million copies by late 2019. Furthermore, before the release of those games in 2014, Lucasfilm declared that all future games would be considered part of Star Wars’ official canon.
In the year 2020, Electronic Arts (EA) announced they would invest heavily in the Star Wars universe, capitalizing on the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order by Respawn Entertainment. This developer famous for Titanfall and Apex Legends released a sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, in 2023. However, the exclusive rights held by EA over Star Wars expired during this decade, giving Ubisoft an opportunity to explore the Star Wars franchise with their release of Star Wars Outlaws last year. Furthermore, Bethesda (with Xbox publishing) was granted the license to develop Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, marking another significant Lucasfilm franchise entering the market. It’s important to note that before Disney acquired Lucasfilm, an internal game company named LucasArt existed but was closed down after the acquisition in 2013.
In 2022, Kennedy discussed with Empire how Star Wars video games have impacted the narrative structure for both shows and films. “It’s quite interesting,” Kennedy stated, “the more I’ve learned about game scripting, and the continuous storytelling that occurs in a game world where the story is continually evolving from a single thread, it seems to be more similar to what Star Wars represents.
During Kennedy’s leadership, Lucasfilm has opted to grant rights for its intellectual properties to prominent publishing companies, who took charge of Star Wars video game development. Although it’s unknown precisely what her role was in the video game sector, it’s plausible that her successor might seek tighter control or guide the future direction of the franchise’s gaming endeavors differently.
Recently, James Gunn and Peter Safran, co-heads at DC Studios, have met with executives from NetherRealm and Rocksteady to talk about potential upcoming games set in their superhero universe. Although they may not directly oversee every stage of development, they clarified that they share storytelling suggestions with the teams because the movies and shows might be following a similar narrative direction.
For the upcoming years, numerous Star Wars video games have been announced. Recently, Quantic Dreams confirmed that the upheaval at NetEase won’t impact Star Wars Eclipse. Additionally, a strategic Star Wars game is being developed, along with rumors of another installment in the Star Wars Jedi series. Notably, Douglas Reilly from Lucasfilm Games showed enthusiasm for additional Indiana Jones games towards the end of last year.
It’s quite clear that one point stands undeniably: Regardless of who takes over at Lucasfilm, we can expect numerous Star Wars video games in the years, if not decades ahead. However, the appearance and development style of these games might undergo significant shifts, contingent upon the next president of Lucasfilm.
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2025-02-25 20:39