Skip to main content

A million Star Wars fans cry out, and are silenced as Disney closes LucasArts

star Wars 1313
Image used with permission by copyright holder

2013 continues to prove a brutal year for many video game studios. Joining the likes of Vigil Games (Darksiders) and others under THQ’s umbrella is the 31-year-old development house LucasArts.

“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,” reads a statement from Lucasfilm, “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.

Opened by George Lucas and Lucasfilm, the studio produced some of the most groundbreaking PC games of the 1980s and ‘90s, from the early adventure games of Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer like Maniac Mansion and Grim Fandango, to space combat games like X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in October 2012 though, the future of LucasArts has been in question. Disney CEO Bob Iger said after completing the $4 billion acquisition that Disney planned to focus on developing mobile and social games based on the Star Wars series while exploring licensing opportunities with outside video game studios.

A Kotaku report in March said that LucasArts employees were trying to finish work on a downloadable multiplayer game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 called Star Wars: First Assault, a test bed for a possible Star Wars: Battlefront III, but Disney was still vacillating on whether or not to keep the studio open. “Fans should tell Disney/Lucas loud and clear they don’t want shitty titles from random developers; they want games to be taken seriously, and they will only pay for quality,” said a developer with the studio, “I believe that if Disney/Lucas lets LucasArts die, it means the death of Star Wars as a storied franchise is right behind it.” 

The fate of games like Star Wars 1313 is up in the air. A Lucasfilm representative speaking with Game Informer said that the game might be handed off to another developer. Lucasarts did confirm to DT that its games currently on Steam will remain available. 

“It is worth noting that we are looking for proven external partners who can help us provide video games to our fans,” said Lucafilm, “We still believe in the video game industry, we still will provide Star Wars games, we’re just looking at different models rather than internal production.”

“[Disney is] evaluating everything. There’s always a possibility that [Star Wars 1313] can still come out via licensing.”

We have reached out to LucasArts for further comment, and will update the article as new information becomes available. 

Editors' Recommendations

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
PlayStation Plus’ most notable free April offerings come from Microsoft
Four players stand together in the 4v4 PvP mode of Minecraft Legends.

Sony outlined all the new offerings PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers can expect in April; surprisingly, Microsoft is the company behind two of this month's four offerings, Minecraft Legends, and the Overwatch 2 Mega Bundle.

On April 2, PS Plus can get those two things free of charge in addition to Immortals of Aveum and Skul: The Hero Slayer. Immortals of Aveum is a single-player shooter where players use magic instead of weapons. Although the thing it's most notable for is flopping upon its release, Immortals of Aveum is still a solid shooter that you might have missed out on, and you should give it a shot now that you can get it through PS Plus. Meanwhile, Skul: The Hero Slayer is a tough 2D platformer roguelike that should entertain fans of that genre for quite some time.

Read more
These are the 10 best gaming PCs I’d recommend to anyone
Graphics card in the CLX Hathor PC.

We review dozens of gaming PCs each year. In 2024, there are a ton of great options, but we've narrowed down a list of the 10 best gaming desktops that deserve your hard-earned money.

In 2024, we still recommend the Alienware Aurora R16 due to its fantastic design, solid performance, and decent value. However, there are several other options depending on your needs and budget. If you want a deeper look into how we evaluate gaming PCs, make sure to read our post on how we review desktops.

Read more
Mecha Break’s robot customization shakes up the battle royale formula
Mecha Break robot head with glowing blue eyes

Mecha Break isn't the kind of multiplayer game you can master right away.

You might equip a lance that you barely know how to use because it seemed like a good idea, and spend the rest of a round attempting to bash yourself into enemies to help your teammates. It incorporates action that's more similar to that of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon than it is to the shooter-focused gameplay in Gundam Evolution, Bandai Namco's multiplayer mecha shooter that shut down last year. Overwatch does come to mind, but in a way where mechs are still the focus rather than the pilots within them.

Read more