LucasArts has joined forces with BioWare to produce the first StarWars RPG ever.

Suffice it to say that fans everywhere will be quite weary of StarWars when this next decade is over, what with the movie and merchandise blitz and now the new RPG game.

What new RPG game? you query...
Why the collaboration between LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC and BioWare Corp. announced only today.

The PC game will be set 4000 years before Episode One: The Phantom Menace and will depict the epic struggle between the vast-reaching republic of the valiant and wise Jedi and the sinister Sith.

A brand new engine for the game's 3D graphics is in the works. BioWare is the developer of critically acclaimed "Baldur's Gate" and the new "Icewind Dale" role playing games (RPG).

"The opportunity to create a richly detailed new chapter in the Star Wars universe is incredibly exciting for us," says Dr. Greg Zeschuk, joint CEO of BioWare.

"This collaboration with BioWare further represents LucasArts' long-term strategy to build relationships with the world's premier game developers," says Simon Jeffery, president of LucasArts. "BioWare has consistently delivered compelling games with rich and deeply engaging stories. Together, we aim to create a milestone role playing game set within a unique and largely unexplored area of the Star Wars universe."

Although BioWare is currently planning the game as a single-player vehicle, there may eventually be multiplayer support.

Expect the yet unnamed RPG to be release in 2002.