Media powerhouse company Disney has announced that it will halt production of LucasArts projects. Star Wars 1313 will be put on hold after being slated for a release later this year.
Disney shut down LucasArts’ game development subsidiary Wednesday as part of its transition to a licensing agency. Coming five months after their acquisition of LucasFilm, Disney’s move is not surprising. LucasArts has not developed a successful title since “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” in 2008.
While the shutdown of game development means the cancellation of games in production like “Star Wars 1313” and “Star Wars: First Assault,” it does not herald the end of Star Wars gaming. LucasArts will continue to license out titles to external game developers, but its doors will close.
Its 150 staff were notified of the shutdown and their subsequent dismissal Wednesday morning.
“150 people losing their jobs, that means a lot of talent was released into the gaming job market,” Aaron Galloway-Perrell, senior computer support specialist for UW’s IT, said. “It’s a largely competitive and diluted industry, so it may be difficult for them to get hired.”
A representative from LucasFilm spoke with Game Informer shortly after the decision was made public. The representative wanted to make it clear to Game Informer that they still had the fans at heart.
“We are looking for proven external partners who can help us provide video games to our fans. We still believe in the video game industry; we still will provide Star Wars games, we’re just looking at different models rather than internal production.”
LucasArts has created many ground-breaking titles since its founding in 1982, such as “Maniac Mansion” and “Labyrinth.” Star Wars gaming did not begin until the ‘90s when titles like “Rebel Assault” and “Dark Forces” saw massive success. Star Wars remained strong into the new millennium with the “Jedi Academy” series, “Battlefront” series and 2004 game of the year “Knights of the Old Republic.”
The release of “The Force Unleashed II” spelled the beginning of the end for LucasArts, which has seen five different presidents since 2004 leading to constant restructuring. Its most recent games, “Star Wars Kinect” and the MMORPG “The Old Republic,” have floundered leaving LucasArts without a standout game in almost five years.
“LucasArts has been in trouble for awhile. ‘Star Wars Kinect’ has a mini-game at the Mos Eisley Cantina where the player dances to poorly choreographed music as Chewie or Han Solo. That’s just not fun for anybody,” Perrell said.
While some in the Star Wars community feel betrayed by Disney closing LucasArts’ gaming studio, Perrell believes it opens up new doors of future potential.
“They’re closing down their on-site development. This means they can displace the risk of content quality,” Perrell said. “They have been releasing a large quantity of games, but their quality has been very low. Selling their licensing to an independent company for a great deal of money will make sure the game lives up to the hype and is high quality. People are feeling uncertain about 3rd parties creating Star Wars games, but it can’t get any worse than Jar Jar Binks. Getting some outside developers involved will only benefit the Star Wars Universe.”
