Google's 'Lightsaber Escape' Game (Photo : Twitter)
Google teamed up with Disney and LucasFilm to launch a Chrome experiment on December 15, Tuesday. The new game requires smartphone owners to convert their handsets into glowing lightsabers, the energy weapons used by Jedi and Sith characters in the Star Wars universe. Lightsaber Escape starts in a Star Destroyer spaceship, and the goal is to swing around the mobile phone to control the lightsaber on a laptop or desktop, in order to battle arch enemies such as First Order stormtroopers on a computer screen.
The process is simple. Gamers just have to open Lightsaber Escape in a PC browser, and then key in their smart phone's unique URL to turn it into a lightsaber handle, according to Engadget.
The new tech is part of Google's Chrome Experiments, which the search giant launched in 2009 to demonstrate its web browser's power. It focused on pushing the limits of the JavaScript and HTML5 languages, and has grown to more than 1,000 experiments, according to VentureBeat.
Google's new Star Wars game is technically a Chrome experiment because it was originally designed to work only in the Chrome browser, although it now runs on other platforms such as Apple's Safari. It includes 3D graphics and has been built to work in browsers without requiring plugins.
This is not Google's first Star Wars promotion. It has also added features to Google search; and mobile apps including Chrome, Gmail, and YouTube. The tech giant also recently sold out of free Google Cardboard virtual reality headsets featuring BB-8, First Order Stormtrooper, Kylo Ren, and R2-D2, in one day.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" debuts in North America on December 18, Friday. It is the first film produced by Disney after it purchased George Lucas' production company LucasFilm for over $4 billion three years ago. The film is projected to earn worldwide box office returns up to $2 billion.
Here's a demo of Lightsaber Escape:
