Tag Archives: Star Wars 1313

The Fate of LucasArts was a Decade in the Making

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To say fan reaction to the closure of long-time game developer and publisher LucasArts was strong would be an understatement. Emotions ranged from sadness to outright anger at new parent company Disney for shuttering the studio responsible for critically acclaimed titles like TIE Fighter, The Dig, and Escape from Monkey Island. Through the years, this division of the Lucasfilm brand had been responsible for numerous well received games that became benchmarks for the industry as a whole. It’s understandable, then, that fans of the company are bewildered as to why Disney would close down such a prolific studio and monument to gaming history.

While a glance through their catalog reveals a studio that has had more success than the vast majority of their competitors, a deeper look reveals that LucasArts set themselves on a risky path nearly a decade ago.

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Lucasarts Shuttered, Employees Laid Off

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LucasartsKotaku is reporting that Disney has officially shut down Lucasarts and laid off all employees.

Given the lingering hard feelings over Lucasfilm Animation and the cancellation of The Clone Wars, it’s easy to get upset at Disney. I would caution against it, however. Lucasarts was a development studio that was in trouble years before Disney even came into the picture. The number of titles they released plummeted around 2006-2007 and the marquee titles they did release were not well received critically. The Force Unleashed and its sequel were regarded as middling titles and The Old Republic was a huge expenditure that failed to put a dent in the MMO market.

There’s also this to consider:

Lucasarts has been a development studio in trouble for years. This studio getting shut down doesn’t mean the end of Star Wars games. If anything, I view it as a hopeful thing. For whatever reason, they have been unable to produce quality products internally for a number of years and they probably could have and should have been closed down sooner to redistribute that valuable IP.

If Disney is licensing the Star Wars IP now to other studios, that could be great news for fans.

Edit: Official statement from Lucasfilm

GameInformer received a statement from Lucasfilm discussing the closure of the studio.

“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.”

In addition, Kotaku is now reporting that Star Wars 1313 and First Assault have been canceled

Staff were informed of the shutdown this morning, according to a reliable Kotaku source. Some 150 people were laid off, and both of the studio’s current projects—Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313—were cancelled. Disney will still use the LucasArts name to license games, but the studio is no more.

Star Wars: 1313 In Limbo

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1313_spike_previewAt E3 last year, attendees were given a glimpse at the next AAA title LucasArts was working on. Titled Star Wars: 1313, the game was billed as an inter-trilogy action adventure that might be able to revive the struggling development studio. A cinematic trailer was shown and then … little was said about the project.

There’s no telling how much development had gone into the product beyond the pre-rendered video they had shown. Fans began to get concerned as the months after E3 passed without any additional word. One theory was that LucasArts was being quiet because the title was going to be a launch game on a Next Generation platform, but when Sony’s Playstation 4 press conference came and went without any additional word on the game’s status, Kotaku began to investigate. According to their sources, things are not looking good for 1313.

For weeks we’ve heard from multiple sources that the Disney purchase of LucasFilm (which includes LucasArts) has reoriented the company’s gaming division. The focus is on the new trilogy, not on material that is unrelated to the planned JJ Abrams-directed Star Wars: Episode VII. 1313‘s developers may still be fervently plugging away, for all we know. As LucasArts says, the game “continues production.” But it sounds from our sources like it’s not currently moving forward in any official capacity.

The game’s future is very much in doubt at this point. For more, read the entire article over at Kotaku.

Star Wars: 1313 Won’t Let You be a Jedi

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Gaming blog Kotaku had a chance to sit down with Lucasarts to talk about their upcoming new franchise in the Star Wars videogame realm. One of the tidbits dropped? You won’t get the chance to play as a Jedi.

“It’s not that I think that that’s overdone,” says Robillard. “But the criminal underworld of 1313is a little more grounded and that has to live in the mechanics of the game. Having mechanics that are limited by human ability makes things more relatable, then we can put all the cool stuff you can do into the gadgets and weapons.”

“You still get to do all of these amazing things because of the environment the game takes place in and because of the gear you have,” he continues. “But at the core you still have these vulnerabilities that are a bit more relatable, so you won’t have the demigod complex of a Jedi.” If you fall in 1313, Robillard sums up, you know you’re going to be in trouble.

You know what? I’m perfectly okay with this. If you’ve ever listened to the podcast (such as our latest! With Aaron Allston! Shameless plug!), you know one of my big things I really want to see from Star Wars is a bit more of a focus put on non-Force sensitive characters. It’s a big, grand universe. Show that to us every now and then!

Star Wars: 1313 Is The New Game

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Last night on Spike, Lucasfilm finally announced what that new game franchise they’ve been hinting at is. The answer, Star Wars 1313.

LucasArts is diving into the most dangerous depths of the Star Wars criminal underworld with their newly announced internally developed videogame franchise, Star Wars 1313. Players will take control of a lethal bounty hunter in the never-before-explored expanses of Level 1313, deep below the surface of Coruscant. Using an arsenal of exotic weaponry to hunt down marks, the player must also uncover the truth surrounding a criminal conspiracy in this third-person cinematic action adventure game. It’s a bold new take on the Star Wars galaxy, intended for mature audiences.

Admittedly, I was hoping beyond hope that this was going to be a flight simulator of some sort. Or anything else, really. I’ve got bounty hunter and sandbox shooter burnout. This sounds like it’s going to be a combination of both of those.

Expect actual gameplay footage to be revealed at E3.