Disney Closes LucasArts

[Andy Chalk]

Disney Closes LucasArts

All projects at the once-famed studio have been canceled and roughly 150 people have been laid off.

It's not entirely surprising but it's still very sad: LucasArts, a studio that was once among the top developers in the business, has been shut down. The news was confirmed by a LucasArts rep in a statement to Game Informer.

"After evaluating our position in the games market, we've decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company's risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games," the statement said. "As a result of this change, we've had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles."

Kotaku reports that about 150 employees have been let go as a result of the closure and that all current LucasArts projects have been canceled, including the anticipated Star Wars 1313, which our former guy Steve Butts said in his E3 2012 acquired [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/previews/9709-E3-Preview-Star-Wars-1313] all things Lucas in November 2012.

LucasArts hasn't done much of note recently - its last game was the not-great Kinect Star Wars - but it was a player in its prime, publishing classic adventures like Full Throttle, Sam and Max and of course the Monkey Island series, and some great Star Wars games as well, like X-Wing, TIE Fighter and Knights of the Old Republic. And even though it may not have been particularly "relevant" in recent years, seeing it end like this is very sad indeed.

Sources: Kotaku [http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/04/03/disney-closes-game-publisher-lucasarts.aspx]


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[Aiddon_v1legacy]

yeah, Lucasarts wasn't really doing much over the past decade. Still, I imagine people are going to FLIP.

 

[Andy Shandy]

In Memoriam


Anyway, obviously condolences go to those 150-odd people, but does this mean that Tim Schafer and Double Fine could get stuff like Grim Fandango back?

Some good could potentially come from this.

Definitely not been a good week for game developers though.

 

[Fappy]

I knew Disney would do some cleaning up, but I didn't anticipate this. My condolences go out to those whose jobs were cut. The only good news is that I no longer need to hate LucasArts anymore considering they no longer exist.

 

[Sixcess]

all current LucasArts projects have been canceled, including the anticipated Star Wars 1313

Wow. Did not see that coming.

That's really rather extreme. Makes you wonder how far along it was, and how well (or otherwise) it was shaping up.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

Such a shame. However, on the other side of the coin, LucasArts could take their cancelled projects that people have or had been anticipating and offer them to studios who might be interested - You can't tell me that 1313 can be revived or that Battlefront 3 is no longer a thing of the past if you can just sell them the rights to continue on those games.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Telltale Games! Can you hear me?!

Please, grab the IP rights to Grim Fandango! You know you want to. Now's your chance!

 

[TheSYLOH]

I'll put it this way...
Lucas Arts hasn't internally developed a good game since 2006.
And the last thing they pushed out was Star Wars Kinect. The game that with one video, finally dispelled any nostalgia I had remaining for Star Wars.
Don't get me wrong, it sad to see the name die, but judging by how little they've done in recent years there's little loss.

 

[spartandude]

Can't say it fills me with confidence...

Boy, you said it Chewie

 

[Aggieknight]

http://nooooooooooooooo.com

Honestly, I haven't seen a good game from them in forever.

Yet...so much of my childhood consisted of playing their games.

 

[boradam]

There goes any hope for Battlefront 3.

 

[snekadid]

I am not sad at all by the studios passing. Yes, it is unfortunate that people are now unemployed, but not only, as other have pointed out, has lucas arts not made anything of worth in house in a very long time, but they also intentionally held back other games outside the studio in ways that directly damaged their own brand. It's like a old dog that keeps breaking its hip jumping down stairs, it was just its time.

 

[Brad Shepard]

god dammit Disney! why would you do this?

 

[Alcaste]

That's... Absolutely horrible. I was really looking forward to 1313.

To those mentioning Grim Fandango - How? Doesn't Disney own those other IPs now, too?

 

[itsthesheppy]

I played so much X-Wing back in the day. This is sad.

 

[MorganL4]

Disney...... I am disappoint.

LucasArts did some great work, sure the Kinect StarWars was a bust, but let's be honest, Kinect ANYTHING will be a bust because it is Kinect.... At least give them a chance to recover with 1313, and if that ends up failing then yeah.... you would have some justification..... OR crazy idea I know, LET THEM WORK ON NON STAR WARS IPs!!!

 

[GaltarDude1138]

Well...crap. Firstly, hope everyone who got laid off can find a new job soon.

Secondly, what does this mean for BF3? First Assault was supposed to be a precursor to a Battlefront 3 release...

My entire childhood was Star Wars games (except like, Pokemon) so it's really sad to see them go...