Disney Shuts Down LucasArts, Cancels Star Wars 1313 & Lays Off 150+ Employees

Updated: April 5, 2013

Some mornings have news that makes you smile, while other news makes you sad and that is the type I have to bring to the table today. LucasArts was closed today according to sources at Disney and now the company that has brought us so many awesome game titles has been shut down for good. Just 5 months after Disney acquired the company in a 4.05 billion dollar deal between LucasArts and themselves we find the company laying off employees and shutting down the doors to a very sad and disappointed audience myself included.

All of the current projects for the company have been shelved including Star Wars First Assault and Star Wars 1313. GameInformer has released a statement that claims that Disney has been evaluating its position on games and has simply determined that LucasArts would better serve the Disney business model as licensing its properties than developing in-house games. Disney says that this move is meant to reduce the risk involved with financing individual projects while simultaneously expanding the companies Star Wars portfolio.

This seems like a strange turn of events considering all the high-praise and overwhelming positive response seen in response to Star Wars 1313 and this is going to be a very big disappointment to the fans as well as a huge letdown to those who just plainly loved the games. The title had actually achieved the status of one of the most anticipated games of 2013 so this is a not something you would think would be happening to a game that has made that much of an impact on the gaming community. The game would have featured the character being placed in the role of a bounty hunter determined to uncover the dirty little secrets that are being hidden on subterranean level 1313 of Coruscant’s underbelly. The game was to have featured next generation graphics in a 3^rd person perspective that offered a much rougher and grittier version of the game.

What does come as a light at the end of a tunnel is that fact that in a separate statement Disney claims that the game was looking great and coming along fantastic so there is some hope of the game falling into the hands of a 3^rd-party developer and still getting made for the fans at some time point. Some sources say that the games are forever dead and that anything else is just wishful thinking and false hope, but I feel that there are so many people eagerly awaiting these titles that it would behoove any company worth their salt to continue what has thus far looked like an amazing addition to the LucasArts lineup. Since the games teams have been effectively laid off it seems highly unlikely that anything will be done on LucasArts behalf, but that does not mean that the titles are dear, yet. I think that the video game industry will embrace this game regardless of what has transpired at Disney and continue the work that has already been started. As a fan of all things Star Wars I find this to be very disturbing indeed as the games both looked like they would breathe a bit of fresh air into the flailing LucasArts catalog. I feel this is a sad day, how about you my friends? Thanks for reading Tech Of Tomorrow and I look forward to your comments below.