Today, LucasArts announced an expansion to the hit real-time strategy game Star Wars: Empire at War. Forces of Corruption takes place immediately following the Death Star’s demise at the hands of the Rebel Alliance.

You’ll fill the power vacuum that forms in the Empire by playing as Tyber Zann - a corrupt underworld criminal that plans to make Jabba the Hutt look like a Boy Scout. To help him succeed, you’ll get access to even more deadly Empire capital ships than before, including Darth Vader’s Executor, and eventually the mysterious and devastating Super Star Destroyer Eclipse. The Rebels are gaining in strength, so eventually you’ll need to spool up the awesome power of the Death Star (part deux), and swat their enormous battle cruisers like flies.

Deepening the strategy of ground battles, you’ll fully customize your ground defenses (instead of fighting with generic set-pieces as you did before), and defend them with wily guerrilla tactics. You’ll need to dig in against heroes like Luke Skywalker and Yoda, and eventually your most bitter underworld rival: Jabba the Hutt himself. Turns out he isn’t really a boy scout after all.

Forces of Corruption will come to our galaxy in 2006.

May 11, 2006