It's truly the end of an era. It seems like almost an unthinkable closure, but LucasArts is officially no more.
Game Informer magazine confirmed the news, which was first revealed by an unnamed Kotaku source earlier today. Disney has reportedly closed the studio, letting go its entire staff of about 150 people. Additionally, the company has apparently cancelled all of LucasArts' current project, including Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313, both very promising titles.
Disney acquired the company alongside LucasFilm in October of last year for a reported $4.05 billion. They immediately raised some eyebrows by promptly freezing all hiring and game announcements. It looks like after a few months of thought, Disney has decided it was not worth keeping the company afloat.
According to their official statement, Disney has decided it will no longer internally develop Star Wars titles, but instead will now act as a licensing agent, allowing other studios to make the games.
You can read the full statement below.
"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."
In recent years, LucasArts has been predominately a Star Wars game developer, but not so long ago, they were responsible for a "golden age" of adventure games. To this day, the LucasArts name is synonymous to many gamers with the amazing interactive storytelling in games such as Grim Fandango, The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Maniac Mansion, and Full Throttle.
It's truly a tragedy to see such a historic studio go.
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