PixlBit

Seeing the Battlefield Hardline trailer left me with quite a few reactions. Having Payday turned into a PvP game rather than a Left 4 Dead clone sounds interesting, sure. But the level of destruction for that game is beyond excessive. It reminds me of the destruction in Man of Steel except the heroes are just stopping crooks, not saving the freaking world.

The part that left the greatest impression, however, is that Visceral is working on it. It gave me a feeling that the developer should be working on bigger and better things. And Visceral has never made a game which really put their talents to good use since Dead Space 2. Dead Space 3 removed much of what was unique about the series while Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel was another drop of quality. I know Visceral can make better games than these, they already have.

The only hope I still have in the company comes from their yet to be revealed Star Wars game. Amy Hennig of former Naughty Dog fame working on it sounds like a winning combination. Which makes me wonder if Star Wars could become a huge cash crop for EA. And if that happens, could it potentially lead to more diversity from the company?

Because the wonderful thing about the Star Wars IP is that it works for almost every genre. I've played good and great Star Wars first person shooters, third person shooters, space shooters, action games, RPGs, and 2D platformers. I have fantasized about Star Wars Zelda clones, Metroidvanias, real time strategies, turn based strategies, sandbox games, 3D platformers, and basically anything except survival horror. Simply put, Star Wars is the ultimate lisence for gaming.

Which brings me back to EA. They have Star Wars. Star Wars is about to receive a popularity spike with Episode 7. And people will want Star Wars games. So while last gen, EA offered a variety of different settings, worlds, and characters with gameplay that becomes more and more similar to each other, what if the opposite happens this gen? Offering a variety of Star Wars games with gameplay that needs to be more and more different to stand out from the other Star Wars games?

Because I think it is safe to say that a Star Wars game will make money. So could it possibly be that EA may want a variety of Star Wars games? Say, for instance, that Bioware is told to make a new Knights of the Old Republic. But since DICE is working on Battlefront and maybe say someone else is making a lightsaber action game, they decide to have its combat remain like the original two titles rather than Dragon Age 3's combat. Or say Mirror's Edge 2 falls short sales wise, but EA has the assets from the game, so they decide to make a Star Wars game with the same basic gameplay on Coruscant. 

This is 100% speculation, it is very possible that Battlefront and maybe an extra title or two is all EA does with the IP. But seeing as JJ Abrams, a director who makes games that resonate extremely well with the public, is working on Episode 7, I think the IP is going to explode and the company is going to want to milk it. And this may lead to consequences I am not thinking of, but it could also lead the the publisher releasing more diverse games even if they are all set in the same galaxy far, far away. Which, as long as you like Star Wars, could be a very good thing.