News: LucasArts Shut Down, Staff Laid Off Page 1

LucasArts Shut Down, Staff Laid Off

Venerable LucasArts, historied developer of games such as Day of the Tentacle and Star Wars Jedi Knight, has been shuttered. Disney confirmed that the studio has been closed and most of its employees laid off. The official statement is as follows:

"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. 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."

Disney will continue to license and release Star Wars games. All LucasArts projects have been canceled, however, including Star Wars 1313 and First Assault.

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Flynnie 03.04.2013#1

Well big George didn't do these guys much of a favour. I really do love the Star Wars universe and I am slightly worried about Disney's hand on it.

I actually like the how the Star Wars games have panned out since Pod Racer (Other than Super Star Wars on the SNES). Whether thats all down devs like Pandemic and Factor 5 i do not know...all i do know is that i feel like there is going to be a downright shift in the quality of Star Wars games.

jb 03.04.2013#2

Fuck Disney, seriously.

Cubed3 Admin/Founder & Designer

Canyarion 03.04.2013#3

Those Star Wars games must have been in trouble if Disney decided to shut everything down. It's harsh, but maybe for the better.

I guess I shouldn't hope for a new Rogue Squadron game, with both Factor5 and Lucas Arts gone.

Flynnie 03.04.2013#4

Canyarion said:
Those Star Wars games must have been in trouble if Disney decided to shut everything down. It's harsh, but maybe for the better.
I guess I shouldn't hope for a new Rogue Squadron game, with both Factor5 and Lucas Arts gone.

Really? I heavily doubt Disney Interactive Studios will ever be able to emulate or better what LucasArts has done!

Canyarion 03.04.2013#5

Come on, did you see that 1313 game? (By the way, I think that's the license plate number of Donald Duck.)
Some CoD wannabe set in the Star Wars universe? Sounds like a horrible combination. They were trying to make a game that would please the crowd, but that didn't suit SW at all. I'm actually glad we won't have to see this game.

RudyC3 03.04.2013#6

Who will own the rights to the Monkey Island games from now on Smilie ??

Cubed3 Limited Staff :: Review and Feature Writer

Flynnie 04.04.2013#7

RudyC3 said:
Who will own the rights to the Monkey Island games from now on ??

Well it still seems Lucas Arts is going to exist to license the games out? I am guessing they are going to get to choose which developer gets to create it, but obviously its not going to be Lucas Arts.

I could have sworn Disney said last month that things weren't going to change at LucasArts, now this?

Canyarion said:
Come on, did you see that 1313 game? (By the way, I think that's the license plate number of Donald Duck.)
Some CoD wannabe set in the Star Wars universe? Sounds like a horrible combination. They were trying to make a game that would please the crowd, but that didn't suit SW at all. I'm actually glad we won't have to see this game.

It would have been something different for Star Wars, some of the visuals looked gorgeous, but at the same time i didn't see all to much on it.

Do you honestly think that Disney themselves could do a better job, or furthermore who do you think could do a good job on it? DIS don't really have to much of a games studio to develop a large game like Star Wars, so they'd have to get someone else to do it...

EDIT: Looking into it a bit more it seems that LucasArts haven't really developed a mainstream Star Wars game for some time, they have just been publishing them, the Force Unleashed II was the last game they handled. But not much else...so maybe its not to much of an issue if they gave more games to devs like BioWare then.

( Edited 04.04.2013 00:23 by Flynnie )

Hynaman 04.04.2013#8

I was always so pumped through the 90's when a new Lucasarts game came out! Loved Day of the Tenticle, Full Throttle, The Dig, Indiana Jones and so on! All classic games and a time when Lucasarts were at the peak of their gaming powers! Shame to see what has now happened and never like to see anyone lose their jobs!

When in doubt....Whip it out!

acer-man 04.04.2013#9

Man, I have been waiting for a good Star Wars game for so many years now.. not too sure what they'll be like now.

Star Wars 1313 and First Assault looked REALLY good. Hoping for a KOTOR HD remade, Battlefront 3!

Darkflame 04.04.2013#10

Depressing in the extream.

It absolutely astonishs me;

a) That Disney where allowed to buy them. Disney, along with the rest of the "big 6", already control 90% of the media we consume. THEY ARE ALREADY FAR TOO POWERFULL. And yet they were allowed to get both Marvel and Lucas.

b) What was Lucas thinking??? The pricetag on *all* Lucas propertys and IPs was insanely cheap. Easily worth 10 times what Disney paid. The media focused on Star Wars, but your talking so much more then that.

c) That people could only joke about it, rather then protest or boycot.

http://www.fanficmaker.com <-- Tells some truly terrible tales.
Last update; Mice,Plumbers,Animatronics and Airbenders. We also have the socials; Facebook & G+.

Agul 04.04.2013#11

Honestly, how many of us actually didn't see this coming? LucasArts has been making some serious screw-ups over the past several years. Now with the sale to Disney, it was likely to be the last nail in their coffin. Which breaks my heart because I'm a HUGE Star Wars fan, and I can't tell you just how much fun I've had with their games.

The sad thing is they just aren't the same company I grew up with. The company I loved. After, the GCN, PS2, and Xbox gen, they took a turn for the worse. Which still baffles me because they have access to some of the richest source of material out there - freak'n STAR WARS for crying out loud. And they couldn't give us the kind of realistic, epic scale, Star Wars games we've always wanted? The technology to do it actually exists now, too. That's what really kills me.

It's not like they didn't have a clue what fans wanted, either. We've been practically screaming for a new installments to series like KOTOR, X-wing/TIE Fighter, Battlefront, Republic Commando, Rogue Squadron, Empire at War, Dark Forces/Jedi Knight, etc.

Chance favors the prepared mind.

Darkflame 05.04.2013#12

This is not a case of the company going bankrupt of being sold due toa few bad games.

This is a company being dismantaled only because their parent company was bought out.

http://www.fanficmaker.com <-- Tells some truly terrible tales.
Last update; Mice,Plumbers,Animatronics and Airbenders. We also have the socials; Facebook & G+.

Agul 05.04.2013#13

Darkflame said:
This is not a case of the company going bankrupt of being sold due toa few bad games.
This is a company being dismantaled only because their parent company was bought out.

If this comment was directed at me, I am aware of that. My point was they were in a very bad position before the buy-out, and after reviewing the situation, Disney was obviously going to shut them down as they just weren't worth keeping.

Chance favors the prepared mind.

Darkflame 06.04.2013#14

MechaG2 said:
Darkflame said:
This is not a case of the company going bankrupt of being sold due toa few bad games.
This is a company being dismantaled only because their parent company was bought out.

If this comment was directed at me, I am aware of that. My point was they were in a very bad position before the buy-out, .

What are you basing that on?

To my knowledge , I heard nothing of their finicial situation in the news. Lack of "classic" games doesnt nesscerily mean unprofitable.

Disney was obviously going to shut them down as they just weren't worth keeping..

No, Disney was going to shut them down as they dont want to make games themselves.
"worth" has nothing to do with it. (unless LA really was unprofitable of course)

To Disney, Lucas Arts is just a random bit of fluff on a movie deal. They simply dont care.

( Edited 06.04.2013 11:38 by Darkflame )

http://www.fanficmaker.com <-- Tells some truly terrible tales.
Last update; Mice,Plumbers,Animatronics and Airbenders. We also have the socials; Facebook & G+.

Flynnie 06.04.2013#15

Darkflame said:
MechaG2 said:
Darkflame said:
This is not a case of the company going bankrupt of being sold due toa few bad games.
This is a company being dismantaled only because their parent company was bought out.

If this comment was directed at me, I am aware of that. My point was they were in a very bad position before the buy-out, .
What are you basing that on?
To my knowledge , I heard nothing of their finicial situation in the news. Lack of "classic" games doesnt nesscerily mean unprofitable.
Disney was obviously going to shut them down as they just weren't worth keeping..
No, Disney was going to shut them down as they dont want to make games themselves.
"worth" has nothing to do with it. (unless LA really was unprofitable of course)
To Disney, Lucas Arts is just a random bit of fluff on a movie deal. They simply dont care.

Exactly, even if Disney see the games industry as a bit of a way to milk their franchises a little further they don't really want the extra risk associated with developing games.

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