At this point, Star Wars is impossible to avoid. Even without the constant advertisements or overblown marketing campaigns, the film itself is making more money than some small countries - if anyone was worried that Disney would somehow run the franchise into the ground, they can rest easy.
Apparently, the box office success of The Force Awakens has carried over into the world of gaming. Star Wars: Battlefront floored gamers with some of the best graphics ever seen in a multi-platform release, while Disney Infinity 3.0 introduced Star Wars characters into Disney's mega-popular toy-based platform - and both titles are putting quite a bit of cash into Disney's pockets.
In an interview with Fortune, gaming industry analyst Michael Pachter claims that Disney has made roughly $1 billion on Star Wars games in 2015. While it's impossible to know exactly how many copies of each game have sold without official word from a publisher, estimates show that Battlefront and Disney Infinity 3.0 (along with a few mobile games) have generated almost as much money as The Force Awakens itself.
In all honesty, it's probably best to take those numbers with a grain of salt. EA has yet to reveal official sales numbers for Battlefront, and with so many holiday sales popping up throughout its relatively short lifespan, there's no real way of knowing exactly how well the game is doing. At this point, estimates are the best that anyone can hope for.
Even so, the numbers still look good: Pachter estimates that Battlefront has sold roughly 12-13 million copies between November and December. At an average price point of $55, it's possible that Battlefront has brought in approximately $660 million - Disney Infinity 3.0, on the other hand, has pulled in an estimated $200 million on top of that. The remaining sum supposedly comes from the franchise's numerous collections and mobile games across a variety of different platforms throughout the year.
While it's true that these numbers could be a bit off, they're impressive nonetheless: considering that The Force Awakens is well on its way to being the highest grossing film in U.S. history, the fact that the games are right behind it is surprising to say the least.
Basically, fans should expect to play Star Wars games for a long time to come - and, as long as the quality doesn't suffer, it's safe to say that gamers should definitely be excited about the future of the franchise.
Both Star Wars: Battlefront and Disney Infinity 3.0 are available now.
