# LucasArts is dead.



## Krory (Apr 3, 2013)

> Disney has today announced that it's decided to close down LucasArts as a game studio, transitioning it into a "licensing model." This effectively means that LucasArts is dead, likely to exist as little more than a legacy name for externally developed Star Wars titles. A round of layoffs has been had as a result.
> 
> "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," claims the company. "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."
> 
> R.I.P. LucasArts, and best wishes to those who have lost their jobs.



.

This mostly gets me because I was super-psyched for _Star Wars 1313_, which now seems to be dead.


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## Mael (Apr 3, 2013)

I'll always remember thee for _Rebel Assault._


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## Malvingt2 (Apr 3, 2013)

@SonySantaMonica

To all those impacted at LucasArts, our Force is strong, please drop us a line, we are hiring and always seeking great talent


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## Ultimania (Apr 3, 2013)

Fuck you, Disney! Now we'll likely get shitty Star Wars games from now on. Star Wars 1313 and Battlefront 3 won't certainly happen now. But then again, I suppose that LucasArts did this to themselves.

At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if the sequel trilogy turns out to be shit.


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## Krory (Apr 3, 2013)

Yet again it shows how well developers can stick together. It's always amazing to see every time a studio goes under how others try to help.


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## Krory (Apr 3, 2013)

Also, Irrational Games' official Twitter posted referencing LucasArts, Square-Enix, and High Moon saying they're always looking for people.


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## Malvingt2 (Apr 3, 2013)

> Nice weeks we have, aren't we?
> High Moon Studios lay-offs;
> Square-Enix LA lay-offs;
> United Front Games lay-offs;
> ...



A quote from an user on GAF..

It is really a problem man...


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## Ultimania (Apr 3, 2013)

Either the game industry is going through some kind of major change or is dying. Let's hope that it's the former.


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## Mael (Apr 3, 2013)

Join Yager, fellas.


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## Violent by Design (Apr 3, 2013)

Krory said:


> Yet again it shows how well developers can stick together. It's always amazing to see every time a studio goes under how others try to help.



I don't think they're doing it for charity.


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## Naruto (Apr 3, 2013)

More layoffs :/

This recession is horrible. And so is Disney.


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## Mael (Apr 3, 2013)

The Zombie Walt Disney sensed Judaism in his acquisition of LucasArts.


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## Deathbringerpt (Apr 3, 2013)

LucasArts has been on life support for 13 years now and completely died some years ago, little too late to the party.


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## Tranquil Fury (Apr 3, 2013)

I remember games like Rogue Squadron and Jedi Knights. R.I.P


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## dream (Apr 3, 2013)

I remember having fond memories of playing LucasArts games like Star Wars Episode I: Racer and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II.  Sucks to see them be shutdown. :/


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## Overwatch (Apr 3, 2013)

Good riddance to bad rubbish.


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## Burke (Apr 3, 2013)

It must feel fucking horrible to be constantly pessimistic
a heart 4 you all
<3


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## Krory (Apr 3, 2013)

I saw that Gearbox tweeted that they're hiring and all I could think was the people from LucasArts that got laid off, going through all the offers, and it's like...

"...yeeeaaaaahh, no thanks, Gearbox. I'd rather be unemployed and risk living in a box on the street."


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## Overwatch (Apr 3, 2013)

They had a few decent games like Dark Force 2 and JK2/Jedi Academy but they utterly bombed on current gen consoles. So, yeah, better to get the Mozambique Drill now than to pollute the market any further.

EDIT: FUCK! I forgot about their point-and-click adventure games. Tales of Monkey Island was their single greatest achievement.


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## Krory (Apr 3, 2013)

Star Wars 1313 had promise.


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## αshɘs (Apr 3, 2013)

I just want their classic p&c games released on DD services :/


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## Krory (Apr 3, 2013)

Well I want a puppy, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna get one!


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## MCTDread (Apr 3, 2013)

WTF!?!?!?!?!!!?!?!?!!!?!?!?!?!


I think a part of me just died


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## Overwatch (Apr 3, 2013)

Krory said:


> Well I want a puppy, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna get one!



I woke up this morning and decided that I want a rock with a laser sight. Hell, I'm gonna patent that shit.


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## Canute87 (Apr 3, 2013)

They are dropping like flies.


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## Iruel (Apr 3, 2013)

May you be remembered for Battlefront, and KOTOR I & II. (Idc what anyone says II was a masterpiece! had some pretty deep story for a star wars game; not everything was so black and white with the Jedi/Sith. Kreia FTW.)


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## Overwatch (Apr 3, 2013)

The KOTOR games weren't developed by LA employees but I see your point...and 2 was better than 1.


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## MCTDread (Apr 3, 2013)

Thank you LucasArts for the memories.


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## Quiet Storm (Apr 3, 2013)

Stars Wars 1313?? A game where the main character isin't a force user and that it actually looks promising??

Well looks like that won't be a reality anymore. I should of known better. It was like me thinking Aliens Coloniel Marines would be the game the franchise finally deserved. Should of known better....


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## αshɘs (Apr 3, 2013)

The last SW game I liked was Republic Commando. The best ones were probably the Jedi Knights developed by Raven.

Raven


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## Quiet Storm (Apr 3, 2013)

Overwatch said:


> The KOTOR games weren't developed by LA employees but I see your point...and 2 was better than 1.



Did you just say that KOTOR II, an unfinished game, is better than KOTOR I made by Bioware???


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## Overwatch (Apr 3, 2013)

Storywise, yes.


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## Quiet Storm (Apr 3, 2013)

Overwatch said:


> Storywise, yes.



Eh, I'm not so sure about that. It's hard to beat the twist the 1 had. The characters where better in the first game also.


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## αshɘs (Apr 3, 2013)

Chris Avellone was the lead designer on Kotor 2, so that should make it better than Kotor 1 by default. I don't know how you guys feel, but imo the latter is an incredibly safe, boring and formulaic RPG with binary writing.


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## Krory (Apr 3, 2013)




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## Mael (Apr 3, 2013)

North Korea was behind all this after all. 

It's all part of Darth Kim's plot.


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## Deathbringerpt (Apr 3, 2013)

AHAHAHAHAHAHA.


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## Krory (Apr 3, 2013)

I'd probably be a bit more pessimistic about the "state of the industry" and how we're all going to die if it wasn't for the fact that we just saw at least ten different developers pointing out they're HIRING and looking to FILL positions as others are laid off.


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## Mofo (Apr 3, 2013)

Kalep said:


> Eh, I'm not so sure about that. It's hard to beat the twist the 1 had. The characters where better in the first game also.


Kotor 2 was indeed better than the previous one, both storywise and from a gameplay perspective. The game was rushed, I'll give you that.
As for the biowarian twist, albeit  I really liked Revan more than The Exile, you can't deny Bioware's plots are pretty much the same (I.E. start   an underdog, find NPCs, first 2 hubs, great revelation after the third hub, last 2 locations, epic ending). It's a shame they raped  the trilogy with SwTOR. 

I don't see layoffs as a bad thing, eventually more studios will be formed, the industry will shift from capital intensive games  to gameplay heavy titles, no more 100million AAA games and companies with abysmal profit margins but smaller budgets and more production value.


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## Kagekatsu (Apr 3, 2013)

Shame to hear this, though LucasArts' better days had long since past anyway.


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## DedValve (Apr 3, 2013)

Sad, sad day indeed. At least a bunch of developers are opening up their arms for these poor people. 

I read the article (or a different one) and it did not mention currently running games, mainly the Old Republic. Will that get affected (shut down servers, continued support, patches, expansions?) I think at this point everything but the servers will go down and the game will just be on life support, still on but no longer being supported.


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## Kagekatsu (Apr 3, 2013)

DedValve said:


> Sad, sad day indeed. At least a bunch of developers are opening up their arms for these poor people.
> 
> I read the article (or a different one) and it did not mention currently running games, mainly the Old Republic. Will that get affected (shut down servers, continued support, patches, expansions?) I think at this point everything but the servers will go down and the game will just be on life support, still on but no longer being supported.


TOR I think is being supported by EA, LucasArts just had their name on it for licensing issues I believe.

(I still want a true sequel to KOTOR, and Battlefront 3...I'm a hopeless optimist.)


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## MCTDread (Apr 3, 2013)

So much for the Prequel to Battlefront III


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## Deathbringerpt (Apr 3, 2013)

If this happened happened years ago during the golden age ofLucasArts, it would be a fucking disaster. The best it can muster now is a big fat "meh" and some sad nostalgia.


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## Death-kun (Apr 3, 2013)

And Battlefront 3 was never seen again.

Even though they canned it years ago.


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## "Shion" (Apr 3, 2013)

Dunno whether to be happy, sad, or indifferent.


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## Blue (Apr 3, 2013)

Krory said:


> I'd probably be a bit more pessimistic about the "state of the industry" and how we're all going to die if it wasn't for the fact that we just saw at least ten different developers pointing out they're HIRING and looking to FILL positions as others are laid off.



15 years ago every school was telling all the little schoolchildren the future was in the computer software industry.

We're now seeing the blowback: There are 60 million game developers out there, but very little actual talent. Someone who's been at LucasArts for 15 years is probably better than the garbage that pours out from technical colleges like so much vomit out of a sorority girl. So we're getting this poaching going on.


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## "Shion" (Apr 3, 2013)

Like... You?


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## αshɘs (Apr 4, 2013)

Raven released the source codes for Jedi Knight and Jedi Academy.



Mofo said:


> As for the biowarian twist, albeit  I really liked Revan more than The Exile, you can't deny Bioware's plots are pretty much the same (I.E. start as an underdog, find NPCs, first 2 hubs, great revelation after the third hub, last 2 locations, epic ending).



don't forget ancient race and suicide mission.


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## Roman (Apr 4, 2013)

Krory said:


> Yet again it shows how well developers can stick together. It's always amazing to see every time a studio goes under how others try to help.



This. It's really heartwarming even. Of course, they wouldn't do it for charity, but this just feels more like actual game developers giving Disney the finger for getting rid of good people.



Ultimania said:


> Either the game industry is going through some kind of major change or is dying. Let's hope that it's the former.



I would actually hope the latter. The gaming industry as it is now needs to die off and be replaced by a new kind of gaming industry. One where EA is a long-forgotten memory. And Disney.

Brb, going to replay the Dark Forces games and Force Unleashed in tribute to the death of Lucasarts.


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## Krory (Apr 4, 2013)

Freedan said:


> This. It's really heartwarming even. Of course, they wouldn't do it for charity, but this just feels more like actual game developers giving Disney the finger for getting rid of good people.



No, it's definitely not a charity or done out of charity, However, some would say it's easier for people to ignore what happened than to kindly go out of their way to remind - and repeatedly - "Hey, we're hiring. You might be able to get a job here." It's a friendly reminder that there's still possibilities out there for some of those people.

Hope and all that cheesy jazz.


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## MCTDread (Apr 4, 2013)

That XX part 2

Just... I don’t even know what to say


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## Buskuv (Apr 4, 2013)

Not really that sad about that, honestly.

It was kind of exciting for it to be about Star Wars and not about HEY LOOK ITS THAT GUY FROM THE MOVIES!  Bounty Hunter was a great game; a nameless Smuggler in the seedy underbelly of the Star Wars Universe was wayyy more appealing than shoehorning more movie tie-ins.

Maybe it was a blessing.


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## Alien (Apr 5, 2013)

Lucasarts used to be absolute top tier but the few good Star Wars games that came out in the last decade were outsourced.

A nostalgic sigh is all i could muster when i heard it.


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## Ultimania (Apr 5, 2013)

MCTDread said:


> Scorpions - Holiday
> 
> Just... I don’t even know what to say



Oh, _fuck_ you Disney. Just..._fuck you_.


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## Mael (Apr 5, 2013)

You gotta be fucking kidding me, Disney.


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## MCTDread (Apr 6, 2013)

I know they haven't had much recent success.... But Fuck 1313 could have brought them back. Now we'll never see it again. 

Though I am curious as to who will pick up First Strike.


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## Angelus (Apr 7, 2013)

So there really never again will be another Jedi Knight game. As long as there was LucasArts, there was always at least a small chance they'ed bring this fantastic franchise back from the dead, but I guess it's over now...


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## Reyes (Apr 7, 2013)

I was very positive about the Disney buyout of Lucas but now this.


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## MCTDread (Apr 7, 2013)

Thinking about it more and more perhaps this could be best for LucasArts. Just think how many games they've been sitting on for all those years. Couldn't Disney now rent out those licenses to other companies to make games?


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## Overwatch (Apr 13, 2013)

You know what? Let's rub some more salt into those wounds:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDKH2oAoRUs[/YOUTUBE]


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## Naruto (Apr 13, 2013)

^That actually looks awesome


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## teddy (Apr 13, 2013)

Overwatch said:


> You know what? Let's rub some more salt into those wounds:
> 
> [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDKH2oAoRUs[/YOUTUBE]



Stop it


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## MCTDread (Apr 13, 2013)

Overwatch said:


> You know what? Let's rub some more salt into those wounds:
> 
> [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDKH2oAoRUs[/YOUTUBE]



That looks fucking amazing.... Is it just me or does it look very close to Team Fortress 2 graphics?

I just hope someone picks it up cause it looks like a finished product.


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