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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

VIDEO Lucasarts to be shut down by Disney

Discussion in 'Archive: Games' started by spicer, Mar 21, 2013.

  1. spicer

    spicer Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2012
  2. Deputy Rick Grimes

    Deputy Rick Grimes Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    Of course they're gonna shut them down, they hate us fans
     
  3. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    Eh, no great loss really. LucasArts is a shadow of what it once was and has been effectively dead for years. This is a mercy killing.
     
  4. KudosDas

    KudosDas Jedi Padawan star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 14, 2005
    I don't see Disney spending the time or resources to shore up LucasArts, especially not when so much was being farmed out of house already.
     
  5. General Immodet

    General Immodet Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 5, 2012
    Just like Lucas said in an interview. He has become Darth Vader. In the past, he did not want to be tied down by large movie companies and now he has created his own large movie company!
     
    SithStarSlayer likes this.
  6. spicer

    spicer Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2012
    Well, yeah, as of late they were releasing pretty bad products, but there was hope in 1313 and battlefront 3 could have been a reality soon if what they said about first assault was true. However, I think it would've been much, much better if they spent some efforts to fix LA instead of giving it up like this. Disney would profit a lot from great SW games like LA produced in the past. And like this we're going "into the unknown".
     
  7. SithLordDarthRichie

    SithLordDarthRichie CR Emeritus: London star 9

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2003
    Shot down or merged? Perhaps Disney just wants to add the people with knowhow into its own Games division.

    It is bad business to stop potential big money-makers like 1313 from coming out, plus at a certain point is it not just easier to finish something than to cut it?

    I'm sure Disney is a big enough company to be able to make Episode VII tie-in games and still produce other stuff for fans that is outside of that.
     
    SithStarSlayer likes this.
  8. Lazy Storm Trooper

    Lazy Storm Trooper Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 18, 2012
    I now officially hate Disney.
     
  9. KED12345

    KED12345 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2012
    LucasArts, when reached for a statement, said it's "one hundred percent not true" that LucasArts was headed for a shutdown, and that "everything is moving ahead." Speculation will doubtless continue in the absence of hard information about release dates and future products.
     
  10. Iefan

    Iefan Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 31, 2013
    I hope that's true. Lucas Arts hasn't been the most honest company.
     
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  11. Thefinalhack

    Thefinalhack Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2013
    Disney don't need the money from games etc... They just want the nullify all competition thats why they bought lucasfilms in the first place


    Sent via my astromech droid
     
    hunter77 likes this.
  12. hunter77

    hunter77 Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 8, 2012
    God Damn'it Disney!!! [​IMG]
     
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  13. Zuckuss the Ruckuss

    Zuckuss the Ruckuss Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2013
    When Bob Iger was talking with investors, he said that Lucas Arts will focus only mobile gaming in the future. I would assume that 1313 will finish up(I don't buy the rumors that its being stalled), and that Lucas Arts will be smaller company in the aftermath.

    I would assume that Lucas Arts will essentially become an extension of Lucas Licensing. Any type of future AAA or console titles will be distributed to third parties. I guess they would just become a publishing label and not a developing one?

    Honestly, I don't see much changing at all given the current state of Lucas Arts. What was the last major game they developed? The Force Unleashed?

    I mean all the other quality Star Wars games in the last decade were all developed by third parties anyways: Raven, Bioware, etc...
     
  14. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2007
    Yeah, not much of Lucasarts to miss these days. The X-wing era Lucasarts will be missed, but they've been mostly gone for a long time already. Plenty of Star Wars games are third party ones these days, and that includes most of the slightly better ones (Lego, Old Republic, etc.). TFU 1/2 was stupid, and it was already a bad sign that they bothered to make a third one but then gave up on making a third one while leaving it at a cliffhanger. :rolleyes: Well, most like an unresolved plot thread, but still. 1313 had some potential, but... looks like that's over with too. And hard to tell how far along Battlefront 3 was, depending on which developer, former employee, Lucasfilm representative, etc. you believe.

    Disney has been trying things out in the game industry too, but so far hasn't really been too successful. A few decent ones (Epic Mickey 1 and I heard Toy Story 3 was good, maybe the Cars racing game) and many more poor games. With Lucasarts, sounds like they're just redirecting everything towards the sequels, just like with the rest of Lucasfilm, or just cashing in on the relatively easy mobile games rather than attempt another big title. It'll be sad to see the Lucasarts name go, but again, not much of it was left.
     
  15. Zuckuss the Ruckuss

    Zuckuss the Ruckuss Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2013
    I seriously doubt they get rid of the LucasArts labeling. As I said, I think it will just merge with Lucas Licensing. Any future third party Star Wars games will probably be carry a publishing credit to LucasArts...

    The real tragedy in all of this are all those IP's that Lucas Arts developed. No more Money Island, no more Maniac Mansion etc. Looks like we will never see them get dusted off.
     
  16. GunganSlayer

    GunganSlayer Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 24, 2013
    I for one am interested in knowing what exactly has been the problem at LucasArts these past few years, as they've seen multiple changes in upper level management and have put out very few products. It seems that for whatever reason they've mostly been unable to push forward after the conclusion of the PT. They were turning out games (both good and bad ones) left and right during the turn of the century and during the release of the prequels. While a lot of their games were Star Wars related, they did also manage to produce and/or publish new IPs, such as Gladius, RTX Redrock, Mercenaries, Armed and Dangerous, among others. They even put out sequels to some of their older series, such as Monkey Island and their World War II flight sims. The latter half of the 2000s and this current decade hasn't seen too many quality titles from LucasArts, and as many of you have already stated, they've actually developed few games themselves, opting out to other studios for development. I don't know if Lucas was aware of what was going on, or if he was concerned, or what, but the company has had issues the last few years.

    I'd hate to see LucasArts get shut down, but all signs seem to point that Disney will close them. Like Lucasfilm Animation and Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, LucasArts is a rather redundant entity within the Disney corporation. Disney already has multiple animation divisions, so Lucasfilm Animation isn't really needed. Likewise, Disney has its own video game publishing unit, and also owns several video game development studios (they've also bought many game studios, and then shut them down after a few short years of ownership), so LucasArts probably really isn't necessary. Add the fact that the company has been in disarray for sometime, and it becomes a no brainer for Disney to close them.

    That being said, I think it was foolish putting 1313 and First Assault on "hold," (which is probably a nice way of saying the games are canceled). Both games are practically finished, and were funded before Disney purchased Lucasfilm. All Disney has to do is put them out on sale and expect what I'm sure will at the very least be decent sales.

    Even if LucasArts is closed, I doubt we'll see the disappearance of the logo. Like some have suggested, it will probably be used to sale Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and other games based off of LucasArts and Lucasfilm properties.
     
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  17. rumsmuggler

    rumsmuggler Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2000
    Lucasarts should be given independence and competent leadership and staff, buy stay close enough to the family to be kept in the loop.
     
  18. SithStarSlayer

    SithStarSlayer Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2003
    THIS.



    Which means, it will never happen.
    :p
     
  19. rumsmuggler

    rumsmuggler Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2000
    Yep..
     
  20. TrandoJedi

    TrandoJedi Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 4, 2011
    As rocky as a road Lucasarts has been on in the past few years, I don't want them to go! :(

    I had faith their inevitable comeback was coming...
     
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  21. SithStarSlayer

    SithStarSlayer Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2003
    I'm still torqued about that saber game that got nixed and I don't even own a 360 anymore.
     
  22. DarthMak

    DarthMak Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2001
    If this was 1997 I would be devastated. But after Star Wars Kinect and the cancellation of BF3, I couldn't care less. At least we will always have TIE Fighter and Dark Forces.
     
    kevmp likes this.
  23. Padme501st

    Padme501st Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 4, 2006
  24. Barriss_Coffee

    Barriss_Coffee Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2003
    I get the reasoning, but this is just like the TCW/Detours/etc shutdown: they're closing shop on all the LFL projects without announcing anything to replace them.
     
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  25. 07jonesj

    07jonesj Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2010
    It's unfortunate but maybe this means Obsidian will get to make that Dark Times RPG?

    Hell, give the license to Telltale Games, and have them make a 5-episode season where each episode feels like a SW film.

    I wish the best for the people who have lost their jobs, but I hardly mourn the loss of LucasArts. They stopped making great games a long time ago.
     
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