Home Entertainment LucasArts to be closed by Walt Disney Company

LucasArts to be closed by Walt Disney Company

Apr 4, 2013

LucasArts, the games developer responsible for the Star Wars series of games, will be shut down by the Walt Disney Company.

Disney plans to license the Star Wars games brand to other developers.

However, Star Wars 1313, which has already been developed for demonstration at industry events is expected to be halted.

Disney inherited LucasArts in October last year, when it bought LucasFilm for $4.05 billion.

The closure will involve an unknown number of redundancies.

Disney will close LucasArts and plans to license the Star Wars games brand to other developers

Lucasfilm Ltd. spokesman Miles Perkins said it would now focus on licensing its Star Wars brand externally.

A “small team” will remain to handle licensing partnerships.

“Both current Star Wars games projects have been halted,” Miles Perkins confirmed.

LucasArts was founded in May 1982 as the video game development group of Lucasfilm Limited, the film production company by Star Wars creator George Lucas.

The film producer, screenwriter and director wanted his company to branch out into other areas of entertainment, so he cooperated with Atari to produce video games.

Action games Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus! were the first results of the collaboration.

Lucasfilm and its interactive games division, is several months into an internal cost-cutting review.

The decision to close LucasArts comes as the developer and publisher, once known for adventure games like Secret of Monkey Island has struggled to produce a hit in an industry currently dominated by action games.

Other LucasArts games: