In two weeks, people from around the world will gather in the Anaheim Convention Center in collective fandom for one of the most popular film franchises ever. And Disney’s gaming team will attend to share the latest about what it’s working on.
The 2015 Star Wars Celebration starts April 16 and runs through April 19, and the team responsible for the free-to-play mobile game Star Wars: Commander is planning to show up. During each day of the show, gamers can get an early look at the new features that the developers are working on right now. Disney will have it running in a booth where players can go hands on with the upcoming content.
The Disney development team is also planning a panel as part of the Star Wars University sessions. Celebration attendees can join Disney Interactive executive producer Nathan Etter and Lucasfilm executive producer Matt Fillbrandt for the hour-long presentation.
The two will talk about how the team has adapted the world of Star Wars — with its characters, ships, and technologies — for a mobile app.
In addition to the booth and panel, Star Wars: Commander fans will have the opportunity to declare their allegiance during the event. When players start a game of Commander, it gives them a choice between playing for the Rebels or the Empire. At Celebration, the game’s booth will have a station where players can take a special photo of themselves as either an Imperial Commander or a Rebel Commander. Those players can then share those photos to their social media accounts.
All of this is evidence that Disney and Lucasfilm are deeply invested in Star Wars: Commander. That makes sense. The game is popular, and it is making a decent amount of money. It is the No. 92 highest-grossing iPhone app in the United States and No. 95 in the United Kingdom, according to App Annie. That’s a long way away from Clash of Clans, a similar mobile game that has made more than $1 billion and has topped the highest-grossing list on iOS and Android since 2012. But by focusing on its core audience, Disney could close that gap.