I feel a great disturbance in the force. It is like millions of gamers just cried out in pain. I sense the end of the Old Republic and Star Wars 1313.
According to Variety, LucasArts Games had around 150 employees and laid off the majority of them. LucasArts is getting on the gaming business. They will keep a small group of employees to manage their licensed products like Star Wars Lego. They will work with other companies to develop games and minimize their risk.
“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,” LucasArts said in a statement. “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.” (Variety)
A different article in Variety announced that Industrial Light & Magic is feeling the ripple affect of the massive cuts to LucasArt Games. With the end of the Clone Wars and LucasArt Games, ILM has too many staff. They are laying off an undisclosed number of employees.
The new changes brings LucasArts and ILM into alignment with Disney’s strategy. We knew that Disney would eventually bring some large changes to their latest massive acquisition, LucasFilm. The ending of Clone Wars was just the beginning and I expect there will be more to come in the near future.
