The company behind games ranging fromMonkey Island and Grim Fandango to X-wing vs. TIE Fighter and Jedi Knight is effectively no more. Disney announced today that it is shutting down internal development of games through its LucasArts subsidiary.
"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," Disney said in a statement obtained byGame Informer. "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."
While it seems the LucasArts name will live on as a brand to handle Star Warsgame licensing going forward, the developer is, for all intents and purposes, no more. It's the end of a game development brand that goes back to 1982. Reports indicate that all of the roughly 150 employees at LucasArts have been let go and that work has been stopped on cinematic shooter Star Wars 1313 and Xbox Live Arcade title Star Wars: First Assault.
While it's a sad end, today's announcement isn't all that surprising. Back when Disney acquired LucasArts as part of a $4 billion Lucasfilm acquisition last October, we noted that the company's gaming efforts didn't seem to be a big focus for the entertainment giant. Even before the acquisition, LucasArts had seen rounds of layoffs that reduced the company from its 500 employee heights in the mid-2000s. There was even a hiring freeze instituted in September.
Furthermore, Lucas had already been licensing out the Star Wars name to other developers for a while, for titles ranging from Bioware's The Old Republic to Pandemic's Star Wars: Battlefront and Travellers Tales' Lego Star Wars games, among others. This kind of outside licensing will certainly continue under Disney, ensuring that the Star Wars gaming tradition will continue. The last Star Warsgame to be created in-house by LucasArts itself was Kinect Star Wars, which wasn't exactly a critical blockbuster.
Less clear is what will happen to LucasArts' well-remembered, classic non-Star Wars adventure games. If we had to guess, we'd suspect these titles will languish in rights limbo as Disney neglects to develop them or license them out to interested parties. Then again, Telltale did have some success with its Sam & Max revival recently, so maybe Disney will be willing to relax its grip on some of its other new, neglected properties too.
Regardless of the practicalities, today's news represents another snipped thread that can be traced back to the golden era of early video and computer gaming. If you need us, we'll be drowning our sorrows at the cantina.
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