In addition to licensing out the money-printing Star Wars license to experienced external studios like DICE and Rovio, after shuttering LucasArts, it looks like Disney will still be continuing to create some Star Wars games in-house, as the firm has just announced the development of Star Wars : Attack Squadrons at the newly-founded studio Area 52 in Seattle.

The videogame world has been begging for a return to the beloved X-Wing and Tie Fighter franchises, but it's difficult to tell whether rekindling that spirit is the intention here. Star Wars: Attack Squadrons is described as "a free-to-play online space combat game where players customize iconic Star Wars hips and engage in high-velocity 16 player dogfights in fabled Star Wars locations"

Intense PVP Action:
Battle online in 3 PVP game modes

• free for All: Fight for glory in 16 player death matches.
  
• Team Dogfight: Join a team and decimate the enemy team.
  
• Base Defense: Defend your base or coordinate an attack on your enemy’s base.

Ship Customization
Upgrade and personalize your ships as you collect and modify them to your own specifications.

Team Play
Team up with your friends and develop a community of Starfighter Pilots.

Rewards
Earn points after successful matches to unlock new items and upgrades.

Regular Updates
New ships, items and upgrades every month.

There's a few screenshots and a rather bland trailer available below, and you can find out very little else about the game over at starwarsattacksquadrons.com, were registrations are already being taken for a closed beta test early in 2014.