By Josh Crooks
The 3rd of April (2013) will, for many, mark the first disappointment on the geek calendar (readily available in stores): as after a ripe 31 years, Lucasarts closes its doors. The creators of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and... The Phantom Menace fell under the acquisition of the entire Star Wars franchise and everything related to it; purchased from George Lucas by Disney some months ago. Given a week, the geek community has set alight with rumours and speculation to this being a bad omen for the future of the franchise, is this for right, or wrong?
The 3rd of April (2013) will, for many, mark the first disappointment on the geek calendar (readily available in stores): as after a ripe 31 years, Lucasarts closes its doors. The creators of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and... The Phantom Menace fell under the acquisition of the entire Star Wars franchise and everything related to it; purchased from George Lucas by Disney some months ago. Given a week, the geek community has set alight with rumours and speculation to this being a bad omen for the future of the franchise, is this for right, or wrong?
Firstly, the acquisition has resulted in not only 150 jobs lost, but also two video games cancelled: Star Wars 1313 and Star Wars: First Assault so it goes without saying: my heart goes out to the families affected. But what does this all mean for me and you? Well, it means that two video games in the mid to late stages of production will no longer be made, a shame shown in harsher light when you consider that Star Wars 1313 had already gathered its fair share of E3 awards after a showing last year, and was tipped to be a real show stopper thanks to its 'next generation' graphics. It remains uncertain as to whether these games will be picked up by an external publisher or developer but accounts from staff members inside the company say it’s unlikely.
Disney's reasons for this state simply that they have "decided to shift Lucasarts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimising the company's risk while achieving a broader quality of Star Wars games". So yeah, your bog standard 'minimising risks and maximising profits' style move, did anyone expect anything less? Disney is the biggest and most profitable company in the entertainment industry, and whilst they are respectful of their acquisition (see: Marvel), they got to the position they're in by making the same money grabbing decisions as seen above. I for one didn't see this move coming, especially with both games being in as late a stage of development as they are, but I'm definitely not surprised. It’s classic Disney!
Disney's reasons for this state simply that they have "decided to shift Lucasarts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimising the company's risk while achieving a broader quality of Star Wars games". So yeah, your bog standard 'minimising risks and maximising profits' style move, did anyone expect anything less? Disney is the biggest and most profitable company in the entertainment industry, and whilst they are respectful of their acquisition (see: Marvel), they got to the position they're in by making the same money grabbing decisions as seen above. I for one didn't see this move coming, especially with both games being in as late a stage of development as they are, but I'm definitely not surprised. It’s classic Disney!
As for the future of the franchise? No, I don't believe this to be a bad omen. Like I said, Disney respects its acquisition, something that Kevin Feige (President of Production over at Marvel Studios) can testify to. That and the fact that they are currently giving the next wave of Star Wars films a fighting chance (which is less than can be said of the prequel trilogy) with JJ Abrams and Michael Arndt being drafted in to direct and write respectively.
Given the creative freedoms granted to the aforementioned comic book company; coupled with the success of an Oscar winning writer and pop culture icon, one would hope that they'll be granted the same allowances. I understand the arguments against and wouldn't be too surprised if they became valid, but for the moment I'm staying positive, it’s too early to say much more when they have yet to shoot a single frame of the damn picture!
Given the creative freedoms granted to the aforementioned comic book company; coupled with the success of an Oscar winning writer and pop culture icon, one would hope that they'll be granted the same allowances. I understand the arguments against and wouldn't be too surprised if they became valid, but for the moment I'm staying positive, it’s too early to say much more when they have yet to shoot a single frame of the damn picture!
As for Lucasarts? Disney will still rubber stamp any games that come out of the franchise with the infamous logo, which may serve as a haunting reminder or heritage icon depending on the output of games. To be fair, Lucasarts have had as many failures as they have sucesses; many of which relating to Star Wars in particular as it’s a franchise with a whole boatload of crappy video games. Still, since there are currently no new games announced for the company, I do wonder what direction they will take: will we get a licenced movie tie-in like the aforementioned (remarkably terrible) Phantom Menace? Will we finally get a sequel to Battlefront 2? Only time, patience, and Disney money will tell.
We can only hope...
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