Disney’s decision to close LucasArts is a very sad thing not only for the talented employees and gaming industry but for the fond memories I had of the company and their games. When it was announced that Disney was going to acquire the Lucasfilm and other Star Wars assets, my first thought was that 1313 was likely in trouble as I could not see Disney releasing a mature rated Star Wars game especially with planned films on the horizon. Disney has always made more family-friendly games that are based on their intellectual properties most notably “Brave” and “Epic Mickey 2” as well as casual games for mobile devices.
I did not see the company as being one who would take on the tremendous production cost of doing an A level Star Wars title without bringing in other companies. While it is too early to say, Disney has said that their preferences to sign licensing deals with other companies so that they can develop Star Wars games and now former LucasArts employees have said that 1313 could still see the light of day provided a deal can be struck with another company.
While the business side of things sadly plays out, fans can be content that there will be future Star Wars games to look forward to especially as we get closer to the premier of the first sequel movie in 2015. Rather than focus on the doom and gloom side of things today has there’s certainly plenty of that to go around, I wanted to instead look back upon the fond memories I have with LucasArts.
I remember when I was in college doing my first radio show how the LucasArts general store made games such as X wing versus Tie Fighter, Outlaws, and Full Throttle available to me at a student friendly rate of $10 title. I also remember a life-size Indiana Jones cut out that was sent to us for a Star Trek convention we were at prior to my days of speaking at conventions and launching the site and magazine. At that time I was working in the gaming industry and doing articles for several publications prior to the creation and launch of our site in 2001. Regardless of how my reps change over the years, I always remember getting great treatment from the company even when we were working to establish ourselves. Titles such as The Dig, Knights of the Old Republic, and the Dark Forces series provided not only plenty of entertainment and provided more Star Wars for a ravenous fan who could not get enough, especially during the three year wait between prequel films.
I have seen how changes in the company can come on unexpectedly and have dramatic results. I was at Monolith and Sierra during times of change and closure and I also know how a sense of family can develop at a good company amongst the staff. It was one of the main reasons that I moved out of the industry into journalism full-time as I did not like the transitory nature of working in the gaming industry. Sierra was very supportive of my writing and provided me with fantastic job that I loved as well is the ability to develop my website and journalism interests. For me it was the best of both worlds and had the closure not happened, I would’ve stayed on as long as I possibly could.
It is never easy saying goodbye to good people and it is also difficult to close a formative chapter of your life. At last year’s E3 I was thrilled with what I saw of 1313 and looked forward to what I saw as a potential triumphant return of LucasArts to the action gaming genre. Bolan sadly looks as if that will not happen let’s remember fondly the good people and company that brought us countless hours of entertainment and memories and hope that their brighter days ahead not only for the workers but for the Star Wars gaming franchise.
