by Mark Barley
Disney shutters LucasArts
The Disney Corporation have announced that the video games publisher LucasArts will be closed.
In an official statement sent out to media the company stated;
"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. 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."
LucasArts has been struggling for quite some time. Titles from the publisher for the past several years - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed & Star Wars: The Old Republic - were critically well received but failed to bring in the necessary monetary amount to sustain success. BioWare and Electronic Arts both tried their hand with The Old Republic and the MMO model but ultimately failed and had to take the game on the free-to-play route. What's not known at this time is what impact this move will have on LucasArts' upcoming Star Wars title 1313.
We'll keep you updated on any further developments.