Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the next Star Wars video game, according to a product page that popped up overnight on the Xbox Games Store and a trailer that leaked on YouTube.
The game is in development at TT Games and will be published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, the Xbox Games Store listing says. Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set to be released June 28 on Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, according to the trailer. You can watch the brief video above, and check out 18 screenshots — many of which are based on scenes from trailers for The Force Awakens — below.
The description on the Xbox Games Store says Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will allow players to take the roles of the main characters of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, including Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Han Solo, Kylo Ren and even the droid BB-8. It will also "feature exclusive playable content that bridges the story gap between Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Disney and Lucasfilm released The Force Awakens in theaters Dec. 18; the film is approaching $2 billion in global box office receipts.
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is presumably the "massive announcement" featuring "two of the world's most popular entertainment brands" about which Warner Bros. Interactive notified members of the media yesterday. The company was planning to reveal its project at 6 a.m. PT today. There are four existing Lego Star Wars games, all of which were released between 2005 and 2011.
The existence of Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is interesting in terms of the licensing deals that make it possible. In May 2013, about six months after Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the companies announced an exclusive multiyear agreement with Electronic Arts under which EA would develop and publish multiple Star Wars video games.
It's unclear at this point if Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the result of a special arrangement between Lucasfilm, Disney and Warner Bros. Interactive, or if a provision in EA's contract allows for the game to exist. The language of the May 2013 announcement did note that the deal gave EA the rights to make "new high quality Star Wars games aimed at the core gaming audience," while Disney Interactive retained the ability to make games for "casual audiences." A Lego title would likely be considered a casual game.
EA released its first title under the contract, Star Wars Battlefront, last November; it takes place during the original trilogy. The publisher confirmed last week that the game's upcoming add-ons will not touch on The Force Awakens or Episodes I through III. Visceral Games, an internal EA studio, is working on a third-person action game set in the Star Wars universe. That project is being led by former Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig. We've reached out to EA, Warner Bros. Interactive and Disney Interactive for comment, and will update this article with any information we receive.