Because of course they did
In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, Disney’s Lucasfilm division and Electronic Arts have put the kibosh onGalaxy in Turmoil, aStar Warsfan game from Frontwire Studios.
According to Frontwire president Tony Romanelli, his studio received a cease and desist letter from Lucasfilm on June 22, three weeks after Frontwire announced it had come to terms with Valve on a distribution deal that would bring the unofficialBattlefront 3successor to Steam.
An alleged phone meeting with Lucasfilm followed where unnamed executives told Romanelli “they would of [sic] been open to the idea of negotiating a license for Frontwire to work on theStar WarsIP, that they are not able to due to their contract with Electronic Arts (EA).”
“I was told that Lucasfilm had already spoken with EA aboutGalaxy in Turmoiland that EA expressed no desire in letting our project continue,” Romanelli added. “Their main concern was due to the possibility ofGalaxy in Turmoiltaking away attention from theirBattlefrontfranchise.
“I tried to pitch the idea about puttingGalaxy in Turmoilbehind EA’s paywall but was told that EA had previously rejected that proposition as well. Due to their exclusive contract with EA, Lucasfilm was contractually obligated to deny our request for the use of theStar WarsIP forGalaxy in Turmoilbased on EA’s decision. We tried to reach out to EA directly for more information, but we have so far gotten no response.”
While Romanelli still believes his project falls under fair use, he has no intent of pressing the issue in court, and will instead remove all direct references toStar Warswhile retaining it as inspiration.
“Going forward, Frontwire Studios will be pivoting away fromStar Warsand embarking on a mission to create a new, original game in a never before seen universe. Our game will still have massive 64-player battles, ground-to-space combat, destructible capital ships, and a full single-player campaign. We will also still be releasingGalaxy in Turmoilon Steam as planned and it will remain a free game.”
To bankroll the game’s development, Frontwire plans to crowdfund, but will not be kicking off any campaigns until the game has a playable demo with both single and multiplayer content.
