LucasArts is Dead! (FU Disney!)

[negative_black03]

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Disney has laid off the staff of LucasArts and cancelled all current projects.

Staff were informed of the shutdown this morning, according to a reliable Kotaku source. Some 150 people were laid off, and both of the studio's current projects—Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313—were cancelled. Disney will still use the LucasArts name to license games, but the studio is no more.

Publicly, Disney is saying their current games could be licensed out to a different publisher or developer, but according to our source, that's unlikely. Our source says Lucas has pursued the option for "one or both games," but nothing happened. "With the teams now basically being dispersed I think both games are effectively dead forever," our source said.

A second source also told Kotaku this afternoon that the chances of Lucas licensing out 1313 are very slim. The odds are "effectively zero," the source said.

“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," LucasArts parent company LucasFilm said in a statement. "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.”

This comes after weeks and months of rumors involving the studio, which was acquired by Disney last fall. In September, LucasArts put a freeze on all hiring and product announcements, which many staff saw as the beginning of the end. In February, we started hearing rumors thatthe studio might be shuttered. Today, it's official: the iconic development house is gone.

more here:Disney Shuts Down LucasArts, Cancels Star Wars 1313 And Star Wars: First Assault


sayanga jud sa Starwars 1313 ui!

[insomiac]

boinks... i was thinking na mas mo dako ang star wars since ang disney na ang mag dala. toinks gi shutdown naman nuon...

[risklight]

ok ra man if magshutdown sila and ipass over nila ang game development sa other developers disney is good at making $

[Pinoy Retro Master]

Star Wars is not Lucasarts, and vice versa. Ako pod first reaction ani kay...

NoOOooOOOoo for 5 minutes - YouTube

But after a while I realized nga the only titles that still tugs my heart are the fond games like Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle and others of the 80s and 90s age. As for a Star Wars brand, probably KoToR and KoToR2 but that was almost a decade ago and take note these games were also sourced externally. Since then however their later games have been the 'blah' or 'meh' variety. I feel sad for the people laid off and their families, but they did have a good run. Business wise their model wasnt working anymore and times have just changed.