In an EA Games press release, EA announced that they have updated their SWTOR global publishing agreement with Lucasfilm Ltd. so that “certain publishing, marketing and distribution responsibilities previously designated to LucasArts will shift to EA.” They go on to say that Lucasfilm will continue to collaborate on design and marketing, and will remain as licensor.
The changes in the publishing agreement will help make publishing, marketing, and distribution decisions more efficient by centralizing responsibilities with the game company, said EA.
BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka told Joystiq that gamers will not be directly affected. “There’s not going to be any obvious change for gamers,” said Dr. Ray. “It makes things easier for us to have everything under one roof, and that will eventually benefit players.” Customer service was given as one example of how this change will be helpful.