Disney Shuts Down LucasArts’ ‘Star Wars’ Video Game Franchise, Starting With ‘Star Wars 1313’

Disney is shutting down LucasArts, the video game publisher behind two decades worth of popular video games, mostly involving the Star Wars franchise.

LucasArts will allegedly be shuttered because Disney wants to shift from developing games internally to licensing franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

LucasArts sent a statement to GameInformer, explaining, "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." 

Kotaku reported that LucasArts has laid off 150 employees so far.

This move also means that current games being developed by LucasArts have been thrown out, including Star Wars 1313, which was demonstrated at 2012's E3 to great reviews.

This is Disney's latest move in a larger plan to renovate its game business, which focuses on creating titles for the web and mobile devices instead of console, as well as combining video games with collectible figurines, according to USA Today.

LucasArts was founded in 1982. It has produced a number of iconic classics, including Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion. In the last decade, the company has focused on licensed Star Wars titles, including Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Last October, Disney acquired Lucasfilm in a deal worth $4 billion, giving Disney the rights to the company's Star Wars franchise and paving the way for the changes we're seeing in the company's video game division now.