According to a report from Kotaku, Disney has shut down the LucasArts game studio and canceled all of its projects. There were around 150 people laid off and Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313 have been cancelled.
Disney purchased the LucasArts game studio and other divisions like LucasArts Singapore when it acquired LucasFilm last October. Here’s the official statement from Disney on the shuttering, issued to GameInformer:
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.
Over the course of its history, many of LucasArts’ hit titles have been developed externally in a licensing model. But it’s also responsible for many great in-house titles like the lovely Grim Fandango. And Star Wars 1313 actually looked pretty great.
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To illustrate what kind of historical closure this is, here is a list of games to have been published by the legendary studio:
- Afterlife 1996 Macintosh, MS-DOS, Windows
- Air Combat Classics 1994 MS-DOS
- Angry Birds: Star Wars (with Rovio) Android, Arcade, iOS
- Armed and Dangerous 2003 Windows, Xbox
- Ballblazer 1984 Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, MSX, NES, ZX Spectrum
- Battlehawks 1942 1988 Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
- Big Sky Trooper 1995 SNES
- Day of the Tentacle 1993 Macintosh, MS-DOS
- Escape from Monkey Island 2000 Macintosh, PlayStation 2, Windows
- Fracture 2008 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Full Throttle 1995 MS-DOS, Macintosh, Windows
- Ghoul Patrol 1994 SNES, Virtual Console
- Gladius 2003 GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
- Grim Fandango 1998 Windows
- Herc’s Adventures 1997 PlayStation, Sega Saturn
- Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures 1996 Macintosh, Windows
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb 2003 Macintosh, PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox
- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis 1992 Amiga, FM Towns, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Wii, Windows
- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: The Action Game 1992 Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
- Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine 1999 Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, Windows
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game 1989 Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Gear, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, ZX Spectrum
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure 1989 Amiga, Amiga CDTV, Atari ST, FM Towns, Macintosh, MS-DOS
- Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings 2009 Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii
- Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures 1994 SNES, Virtual Console
- Kinect Star Wars 2012 Xbox 360
- Koronis Rift 1985 Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum
- Labyrinth: The Computer Game 1986 Apple II, Commodore 64, MSX2
- Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures 2008 Nintendo DS, Macintosh, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Windows, Xbox 360
- Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues 2009 Macintosh, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Windows, Xbox 360
- Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga 2007 Macintosh, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Windows, Xbox 360
- Lego Star Wars: The Video Game 2005 Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Macintosh, PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox
- Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 2006 Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Macintosh, Mobile phone, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PSP, Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360
- Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars 2011 Macintosh, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Windows, Xbox 360
- Loom 1990 Amiga, Atari ST, FM Towns, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Steam, TurboGrafx-16
- LucasArts Classic Adventures (Compilation) 1992 Amiga, MS-DOS
- Lucidity 2009 Windows, Xbox 360
- Maniac Mansion 1987 Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, NES
- Masterblazer 1990 Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
- Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction 2005 PlayStation 2, Xbox
- Metal Warriors 1995 SNES
- Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge 1991 Amiga, FM Towns, Macintosh, MS-DOS
- Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion 1996 Macintosh, Windows
- Night Shift 1990 Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
- Outlaws 1997 Windows
- PHM Pegasus 1986 Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
- Pipe Mania (Also known as Pipe Dream) 1989 Acorn Archimedes, Acorn Electron, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Arcade, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Macintosh, NES, MS-DOS, Sam Coupé, Windows, ZX Spectrum
- RTX Red Rock 2003 Playstation 2
- Rescue on Fractalus! 1984 Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, TRS-80, ZX Spectrum
- Sam & Max Hit the Road 1993 Amiga, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Windows
- Secret Weapons Over Normandy 2003 PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox
- Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe 1991 MS-DOS
- Star Wars (American & European version) 1987 Famicom
- Star Wars (Japanese version) 1991 Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear
- Star Wars Arcade 1993 Arcade, Sega 32X
- Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron 2009 Nintendo DS, PSP
- Star Wars Battlefront: Mobile Squadrons 2009 Mobile Phone
- Star Wars Chess 1993 MS-DOS, Sega CD, Windows
- Star Wars Episode I: Racer 1999 Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, Macintosh, Nintendo 64, Windows
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 1999 PlayStation, Windows
- Star Wars Galaxies: Episode III Rage of the Wookiees 2005 Windows
- Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed 2004 Windows
- Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II 1997 Windows
- Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith 1998 Windows
- Star Wars: Racer Arcade 2000 Arcade
- Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader 2001 GameCube
- Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike 2003 GameCube
- Star Wars: Battlefront 2004 Macintosh, Mobile phone, PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox
- Star Wars: Battlefront: Renegade Squadron 2007 PSP
- Star Wars: Battlefront II 2005 PlayStation 2, PSP, Windows, Xbox
- Star Wars: Behind the Magic 1998 Windows
- Star Wars: Bounty Hunter 2002 GameCube, PlayStation 2
- Star Wars: Dark Forces 1995 Macintosh, MS-DOS, PlayStation, PlayStation Network
- Star Wars: Demolition 2000 Dreamcast, PlayStation
- Star Wars: Empire at War 2006 Macintosh, Windows
- Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption 2006 Windows
- Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo 2000 Nintendo 64, Windows
- Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles 2000 Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation
- Star Wars: Episode I: Racer 1999 Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, Macintosh, Nintendo 64, Windows
- Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 2005 Game Boy Advance, Handheld TV game, Mobile phone, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Xbox
- Star Wars: Force Commander 2000 Windows
- Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds 2001 Macintosh, Windows
- Star Wars: Galaxies 2003 Windows
- Star Wars: Imperial Ace 2006 J2ME
- Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy 2003 Macintosh, Windows, Xbox
- Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast 2002 GameCube, Macintosh, Windows, Xbox
- Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter 2002 PlayStation 2, Xbox
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2003 Macintosh, Xbox, Windows
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords 2004 Macintosh, Xbox, Windows
- Star Wars: Lethal Alliance 2006 Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable
- Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi 1998 Playstation
- Star Wars: Obi-Wan 2001 Xbox
- Star Wars: Racer Revenge 2002 Playstation 2
- Star Wars: Rebel Assault 1993 3DO, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Sega CD
- Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire 1995 Macintosh, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Windows
- Star Wars: Rebellion 1998 Windows
- Star Wars: Republic Commando 2005 Mobile phone, Xbox, Windows
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 1998 Nintendo 64, Windows
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire 1996 Nintendo 64, Windows
- Star Wars: Starfighter 2001 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows
- Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing 2001 Playstation 2
- Star Wars: TIE Fighter 1994 Macintosh, MS-DOS
- Star Wars: The Best of PC (Compilation) 2006 Windows
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars 2002 GameCube, Playstation 2, Xbox
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes 2009 Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, Windows
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance 2008 Nintendo DS
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Lightsaber Duels 2008 Wii
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Atari Games) 1985 Arcade
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (JVC) 1992 Game Boy, NES
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2008 iOS, Macintosh, Mobile phone, N-Gage, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox 360, Windows, Wii
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II 2010 iOS, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, Wii
- Star Wars: The Old Republic 2011 Windows
- Star Wars: X-Wing 1993 Macintosh, MS-DOS
- Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance 1999 Windows
- Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter 1997 Windows
- Star Wars: Yoda Stories 1997 Game Boy Color, Windows
- Strike Fleet 1987 Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
- Super Star Wars 1992 SNES, Virtual Console
- Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 1994 Game Boy, Game Gear, SNES, Virtual Console
- Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 1993 SNES, Virtual Console
- Tales of Monkey Island 2009 iOS, Macintosh, PlayStation 3, Windows, Wii
- The Curse of Monkey Island 1997 Windows
- The Dig 1995 Macintosh, MS-DOS
- The Eidolon 1985 Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari XL/XE, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum
- The Secret of Monkey Island 1990 Amiga, Atari ST, CDTV, FM Towns, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Sega CD
- Their Finest Hour 1989 Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
- Thrillville 2006 PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox
- Thrillville: Off the Rails 2007 Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox 360, Windows, Wii
- Wrath Unleashed 2004 PlayStation 2, Xbox
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles 1992 NES
- Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders 1988 Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, MS-DOS
- Zombies Ate My Neighbors 1993
Pour one out, because Disney just danced the Grim Fandango on LucasArts despite it going Full Throttle on new projects. There will be no Afterlife for Sam & Max in Their Finest Hour.
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