It’s a sad day people. Really sad. Almost as sad as the day that Disney bought Lucasfilm for just over $4 billion.
The revelation comes thanks to an email sent to GameInformer from a LucasArts representative, stating that the game division of Lucasfilm is closing, effectively killing off Star Wars 1313 and the recently leaked First Assault.
“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.”
This marks the end of a roller-coaster ride for LucasArts. In recent years the studio has been somewhat lacking in the AAA games department, producing mediocre titles with the few odd gems. Star Wars 1313 had gotten a lot of attention since it’s reveal and many will be sourly disappointed to hear that the title will most likely never see the light of day. The same can be said about Star Wars: First Assault. First Assault was to be a downloadable title and would have most likely resulted in a full retail Star Wars: Battlefront III.
Instead, Disney is keeping the LucasArts brand just to license out games to other developers and publishers, even suggesting that another team could pick up the pieces of Star Wars 1313 and First Assault, though it’s very unlikely this will come to be.
For me, the games that really defined LucasArts were the Monkey Island series, the Sam & Max series and the Jedi Knight games. They were LucasArts at their best, crafting imaginative and engaging experiences, something that died out towards the end.
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What LucasArts games will you forever hold fondly? Let us know down below.
Source: GameInformer