Licensing Deals Could Rescue Star Wars 1313

[StewShearerOld]

Licensing Deals Could Rescue Star Wars 1313

With Disney ceasing internal development of Star Wars games, licensing deals might be Star Wars 1313's only hope.

The gaming world was stunned yesterday by news that Disney would be <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123055-Disney-Closes-LucasArts>closing down LucasArts, the videogame arm of Lucasfilm, which it acquired last year. Formed in 1982, the studio has been behind countless classic games, based both in the Star Wars universe and other original worlds. To the disappointment of many, the announcement confirmed that LucasArts ongoing projects were being cancelled, seemingly bringing a premature end to anticipated titles like Star Wars 1313. Sources inside LucasArts, however, are hinting that it might not be the end for the game just yet.

While LucasArts is finished, Disney is far from being done with Star Wars in videogames. Rather than developing internally, the House of Mouse is apparently looking into licensing the Star Wars universe to outside studios and publishers. In turn, LucasArts representatives have suggested that a licensing deal could possibly save Star Wars 1313. "It is worth noting that we are looking for proven external partners who can help us provide videogames to our fans. We still believe in the videogame industry, we still will provide Star Wars games, we're just looking at different models rather than internal production," said LucasArts. "They're evaluating everything. There's always a possibility that it [Star Wars 1313] can still come out via licensing." Despite this possibility, other sources within LucasArts, <a href=http://kotaku.com/disney-shuts-down-lucasarts-468473749>speaking to Kotaku, have painted a less hopeful picture, putting chances of a 1313 revival at "effectively zero."

Some chance or none, the salvation of 1313 would be welcome news for Star Wars fans. The game, first revealed <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117562-LucasArts-Unveils-Star-Wars-1313>in June of 2012, impressed many with its gorgeous visuals and adult-oriented take on Star Wars. Rather than centering on the Jedi, it promised to put players in the shoes of a bounty hunter working for a crime syndicate in the seedy underbelly of Coruscant. Focusing on gunplay and gadgets instead of the Force, it looked like something fresh and different, and there are still likely plenty of fans relishing the opportunity to give the game a spin, with or without LucasArts at the helm.

Source: <a href=http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/04/03/lucasarts-rep-says-star-wars-1313-might-be-saved.aspx>Game Informer


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[PedroSteckecilo]

Except they were apparently planning to make 1313 about Boba Fett before it was cancelled...

So unless they remove Boba Fett from the picture I couldn't care less if they restart the project.

Source: [link]http://kotaku.com/before-it-was-cancelled-star-wars-1313-was-going-to-be-470003660[/link]

 

[Jaebird]

Disney saw 1313, and said, "Nah. I don't think we need the money made by this. Now, a film about talking planes on the other hand..."

 

[Ukomba]

Watch for Gearbox getting it, they can give it the old Duke Nukem treatment.

 

[Sneezeguard]

Even if they find a new developer for this it doesn't raise my hopes of 1313 being good. When a game jumps from one developer to another it usually ends up much worse for it.

 

[duchaked]

I guessed it was about Boba Fett lol...but the confirmation just makes it hurt even more :c

even if someone else does finish it though, the folk who were working on it still lost their jobs. that's what must really hurt

 

[fozzy360]

I can't say I'm sad to see this project disappear. It always seemed more like an Uncharted with a Star Wars skin on. Not appealing to me in the least. I do hope that whoever picks it up makes it seem less like a rip-off and more visceral in its action.

Besides, it's not like we didn't already get darker games from the Star Wars franchise. Republic Commando pulled that off purty well.

 

[Darth_Payn]

Watch for Gearbox getting it, they can give it the old Duke Nukem treatment.

After what they did with that and Aliens: Colonial Marines, I wouldn't trust those people to handle a piece of string, let alone STAR WARS 1313.

Disney, You are free to use any studio necessary but I want these games alive.
No disintegrations!

And there are all those former Pandemic guys over at 343 Industries.

Wait, what do they have to do with this?

 

[gigastar]

So long as they liscence it on a per-game basis, we dont need EA or Activision snapping it up then continue running the franchise into the ground.

And there are all those former Pandemic guys over at 343 Industries.

Yes, because the logical thing to do with a liscence is to hand it to a develeoper that will only ever make games for one platform.

 

[kael013]

Disney licensing out an adult-oriented videogame? It'll never happen - Star Wars or no. Just think of the controversy the stupid moral guardians would stir up: "Disney is trying to corrupt our children with violent videogames", "Disney is trying to corrupt our children with straight-up adult themes". Remember, Disney has a public image as a family company - they release content for children. Combine that with the facts most companies are slaves to PR and that most parents don't give a damn about the content in their kid's videogames until they see something they don't like (which is when they raise a public shitstorm) and I can definitely see Disney deciding to just not risk it and release only rated E Star Wars games. So no 1313, Battlefront 3, or any other series you care about that's more violent than [i/]Star Wars Kinect[/i].

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

I don't know about 1313 but Disney willing to license out its Star-wars franchise seems like a good sign.

Obsidian developed KOTOR 3 anyone?

 

[Vrach]

I'd honestly love to see the SW IP given to game studios other than LucasArts. They've proven over the years that they're incapable of handling the IP and making good games out of it and there are plenty of other studios out there that could do a better job as long as they were just given permission to play within the universe.

I want to see the Jedi Knight series continue. Despite the lackluster story, the game had fantastic multiplayer that we haven't seen the likes of since. The gameplay itself was fun, just give it to someone who can put the new tech at work at making it better and to someone who can pin a decent storyline on it.