Disney shuts down LucasArts, all games/projects cancelled

Master Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 1796 Location: Carcosa

Neither Battlefront game (nor the previously cancelled Battlefront 3) were developed by LucasArts, but were licensed out to other developers, which LucasFilm says will be its new model for game development. So I wouldn't discount Battlefront 3 because of this, but I suppose the general inertia and emphasis on the new films probably precludes it.

I don't think that this bodes well for the Expanded Universe in general. I suspect LucasFilm/Disney would cancel all upcoming novels and comics if they weren't contracted out to Del Rey and Dark Horse, respectively. They cancelled their in-house productions of TCW, 1313, and First Assault, and have laid off the animation studio and LucasArts. The novels' and comics' saving grace seems to be their external development and their preexisting contracts.

Master Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 4400 Location: Korriban

Knight Joined: 08 Apr 2011 Posts: 299

Master Joined: 09 Jun 2009 Posts: 1410

1313 may not be over. http://goo.gl/XOinO

LucasArts was an in-house production and wasn't making money. Books and comics are both already licensed out and making profits. I think the EU will definitely change, but it isn't going away.

If you want an idea of Disney's mentality per LFL, read this http://goo.gl/CyH4Z
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Master Joined: 21 Mar 2010 Posts: 813 Location: Maryland

Fantastic news!!

Knight Joined: 02 Sep 2012 Posts: 275

Lando said it best "This deal is getting worse all the time"
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Master Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 1796 Location: Carcosa

If 1313 is potentially going to be licensed out, then closing down LucasArts as a development studio could turn out to be a good thing in the long run, since they really haven't been that good a studio for the past decade. Apart from the first The Force Unleashed, they haven't developed much worth talking about since they stopped doing the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. Jedi Academy's ten year anniversary will be in this September. That's how long it will be since they've done a really great game, except for TFU (and some people don't consider that to be a great game).

Games like KOTOR and Rogue Squadron were licensed out to Bioware and Factor 5, for example. That's the new development model.

While I'm sorry that so many people were laid off I can't honestly say it's necessarily a bad choice. To be honest LA's quality control wasn't really impressing me when they were the ones who had to patch/bug fix post launch. It seemed like they'd just pump out a game, patch it once or twice and then abandon it for the next shiny thing.

That attitude was glaringly obvious with BFII. I remember trying online matches where people would glitch into walls and other exploits. There was also the reward sniper rifle that couldn't headshot enemies in turrets (so in single player you had to intentionally avoid getting that award permanently or else you'd be stuck with a weapon that performed more poorly compared to the default sniper rifle). To my knowledge they were never patched. Meanwhile I also played Battlefield 2142 which got patched regularly and for that reason eventually I stopped playing BFII in favor of 2142 that had better quality control.

I noticed the same thing with Empire at War: Forces of Corruption. There was a bug where, if Rogue Squadron was destroyed, they would disappear entirely and not respawn after a set period of time like other heroes. Bug was never patched to my knowledge and it really irritated me to see such an obvious bug that directly impacted gameplay never get fixed.

So all in all I think it was inevitable that LA would get canned. They didn't have the quality control to remain competitive with other developers and I think the only reason they stuck around so long was because they had the Star Wars label. If they weren't making games for such an iconic label (or similar label) I think they would've closed years ago based on their lack of post launch quality control.
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You can justify it as a business decision and all that has been said is true... but that doesn't make it fair. It should have been LA's decision about their own company, not their new investors bottom line. And for that the fault lies in Disney and with Lucas. If LA was a sinking business, then why invest in them in the first place? That is a bad investment decision.

The answer is because Disney never cared about LA and that was just part of the package deal to gain control of the SW property. Of course they are going to axe the now to them unnecessary departments when they already have their own in house producers and preferred partners. But that doesn't benefit anyone except for Lucas and Disney.
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I guess those poor 150 will have to start their own company, make one super hit and than sell themselves to the EA.

I hope 1313 will see the light of day, BF III and such on the other hand were projects so far from being made in the near future, that it doesn't matter if they get develop by LA or any other company imo. I don't know if LA had any other, non SW games in development, but I sure haven't heard anything about a new Monkey island in awhile.

Master Joined: 09 Jun 2009 Posts: 1410

The facts are that for the last decade LucasArts had a poor performance, but under Lucas, LucasArts was part of a privately held company and as such Lucas didn't have to answer to anyone. Disney is a publicly traded company and has a responsibility to its stockholders. Retaining a division that could be detrimental to a publicly traded company is irresponsible management because it decreases the worth of the company.

You may not like the system, but that's the way it works. As someone who's retirement was hit very hard in 2008, I appreciate responsible management.
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Master Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 1796 Location: Carcosa

http://kotaku.com/before-it-was-cancelled-star-wars-1313-was-going-to-be-470003660

1313 had Boba Fett as the player character. Also, it sounds like if it is made (which the article makes sound unlikely), it will likely be done over from scratch.