Disney is Not Reviving Legendary Games Developer LucasArts

Bad news for all the gaming buffs out there. Contrary to earlier reports, Disney will not be expanding Lucasfilm Games or pushing for a revival of its beloved LucasArts brand.

A Disney representative said that the corporation isn’t planning a Lucasfilm Games revival.

Following the announcement of job openings in Lucasfilm Games, people thought Disney was moving towards a revival of the gaming corporation.

While speaking to Digital Trends, a Disney representative cleared the air that the job postings mentioned are associated with a preexisting part of the business. Disney does have a partnership and licensed games strategy with EA Games and will keep that contract strong. No in-house expansion is on the cards.

The Whole Story Behind Lucasfilm Games ‘Revival’

When some job listings for Lucasfilm Games surfaced online, people immediately thought we’re looking at a revival of the gaming company. This would include not just the Star Wars stuff but also classics such as Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island. PCGamesN first reported the job openings.

This was some 10 days ago with job openings that range from producers and marketing to art directors. Most of the positions were based out of California.

Then there was one opening, in particular, that seems to be targeting an international demographic. The position of ‘Assistant Producer (Lucasfilm Games – Asia)’  requested experience with mobile games in Asian markets.

Similarly other positions had job requirements that seemed to hint at business expansion.

The position for ‘Producer’  demanded at least over six years of ‘game producing or interactive software development’. The Job description revealed that these people will be working on interactive products from the cult classic Star Wars subsidiary on mobile, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, PC/Mac, and AR/VR platforms.

The Associate Brand Marketing Manager position lists work on PC, mobile, and AR/VR. With this information can we safely assume that the focus is on mobile gaming with AR/VR and PC next in line? Since EA Games, a Disney partner, has announced incentives for the platform, we can say yes.

---

ALSO READ

Top 15 Fight Scenes From Action Movies

---

Other AAA game publishers like Blizzard, Nintendo, etc also followed the trend of mobile gaming. Another emerging trend is  AR and VR. Oculus, HTC, and even Nintendo have been announcing works in that sector.

Apparently, Disney does want to release more Star Wars games across all gaming platforms in general. They just don’t want to revive Lucasfilm Games for the task as that would mean churning out new stuff.

Disney Buyout

Following Disney’s buyout of 21st Century Fox, people had high hopes for mergers. Besides crossovers and the X-Men making an entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), fans also expect more expansions on the business front.

The revival of Lucasfilms Games was one such idea. Is Disney only using Fox’s assets to take on Netflix and not make better choices for the fans? Only time will tell.

---

ALSO READ

Its Official: Disney Now Owns Fox in Deal Worth $71.3 Billion

---

Lucasfilm Games

Lucasfilm Games was founded by George Lucas in 1982. The company is a subsidiary of famed Lucasfilm that own the Stars Wars franchise.

Lucasfilm Games later turned into LucasArts. LucasArts is the company behind the critically acclaimed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which came out in 2003.

LucasArts was laid to rest in 2013 by Lucasfilm. After 31 years of creating memorable video games the company citing a shift from an ‘internal development to a licensing model’. This was supposed to reduce the company’s risk while garnering a ‘broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games’.

via Digital Trends