LucasArts, formerly LucasArts Entertainment Company and, before that, Lucasfilm Games, was the video game licensor, publisher, and developer unit of Lucasfilm Ltd. After its closure in 2013, it was restored and rebranded as Lucasfilm Games.
History[]
Lucasfilm Games began in 1982 and during their earliest years, they became famous mostly for adventure games, such as the Monkey Island series.
Following a trilogy of World War II-themed flight combat simulators, LucasArts broke into the Star Wars realm in 1993 with Star Wars: X-Wing, a space combat simulator. After this success, the company continued producing games based on the Star Wars universe, with notable titles such as its sequel, Star Wars: TIE Fighter—showing action from the perspective of the Galactic Empire—and the FPS Star Wars: Dark Forces. In a July 1995 article, Entertainment Weekly lauded George Lucas and his interactice company for changing the industry, with almost every Star Wars title becoming a best-seller.[3]
Their games spread throughout the past decade to encompass almost every game genre. These include role-playing games (RPG), such as the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic franchise; real-time strategy games (RTS), such as Star Wars: Empire at War and its expansion pack; first- and third-person shooters (FPS), such as the Jedi Knight series; and a continued run of flight simulators, such as both the X-Wing series and the Rogue Squadron series.
LucasArts kept interest in non–Star Wars titles as well. It released sequels to its critically acclaimed Monkey Island series and created other franchises.
LucasArts re-released an assortment of games as downloads on Steam, Valve's game distribution service. While six of the ten games in the first wave were related to Star Wars or Indiana Jones, classic adventure games such as The Dig and Loom were also included. More are expected to follow.[4]
In December 2012, Lucasfilm was bought by The Walt Disney Company. This was followed on April 3, 2013 by LucasArts shut down of its development and publishing offices, in order to minimize the company's "financial risk". Most of its 200 employees were fired in the process, and development of Star Wars: 1313 and Star Wars: First Assault were stopped. The remaining staff, fewer than ten persons, were to continue LucasArts licensing activities, to coordinate with future partners publishers and developers and, in theory, encompass a broader range of quality Star Wars games.[2] As a direct consequence, Industrial Light & Magic also had to layoff some of its workforce, as it shared them with LucasArts, and the absence of video games and animated series project left the company overstaffed.[5] Two month later, on May 6, it was announced that Disney Interactive and Electronic Arts signed a multi-year, multi-title exclusive contract. While EA would focus on high quality products, Disney Interactive retained the rights to produce games for more "casual audiances".[6]
Lucasfilm announced on January 11, 2021 that it was reestablishing the Lucasfilm Games brand for all future gaming titles from Lucasfilm, though it would remain solely as a licensor of Lucasfilm properties.[7] Later that week, it was announced that MachineGames was developing a game based upon the Indiana Jones franchise with Todd Howard serving as an executive producer and Bethesda publishing the game, and that Massive Entertainment was developing an open world Star Wars game with Julian Gerighty serving as creative director and Ubisoft publishing the game. It was also revealed that EA was still in development on several games based upon the Star Wars franchise.[8][9] In September 2021, it was announced that a remake of Knights of the Old Republic was in development. The game is being developed by Aspyr Media for Windows and PlayStation 5, for which it will serve as a timed console-exclusive.[10] In December 2021, Star Wars Eclipse was announced at The Game Awards 2021; it is an action-adventure game in the early stages of development by Quantic Dream. The game will feature multiple playable characters with branching narratives. It is set in the Star Wars universe and is part of the High Republic multimedia project, which places the events of the game 200 years before the original Star Wars trilogy.[11][12] In January 2022, it was announced that Respawn Entertainment would be developing multiple Star Wars games, including a Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sequel, entitled Jedi: Survivor, alongside FPS and Strategy video games.[13] In April 2022, it was announced that Skydance New Media would be collaberating with Lucasfilm Games to make a game based in the Star Wars universe, with Amy Hennig leading the project.[14]
Star Wars games developed by LucasArts[]
Star Wars games licensed by LucasArts[]
Star Wars game compilations from LucasArts[]
Sources[]
"Looking At Lucasfilm" — The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine 1- "Looking At Lucasfilm" — The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine 2
- Dark Forces Manual: Coded Transmissions
- Dark Forces Official Player's Guide
- The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Limited Collector's Edition
- Star Wars: Rebellion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
LucasArts Revives Classic Gaming Titles on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)- Use the Force to Fight over WWII Enemy Lines on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
"Voice of the Force" — Star Wars Insider 110
15 Easter Eggs to Find in the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special on StarWars.com (backup link)- Common Ground Episode Guide on StarWars.com (backup link)
40 Years Later: Lucasfilm Games Starts a New Era on Lucasfilm.com (backup link)
Go Beyond The Spires in Virtual Reality: Making of ILMxLab's Tales From The Galaxy's Edge SWCA 2022 on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)- The Enduring Legacies of Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and The Force Unleashed on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection Coming March 14 on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Dark Forces Remaster Comes to Consoles and PC on StarWars.com (backup link)
- "Launchpad" — Star Wars Insider 229
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Disney to Shut LucasArts Videogame Unit by Fritz, Ben on The Wall Street Journal (April 3, 2013) (archived from the original on June 6, 2015)
- ↑ The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- ↑ LucasArts Revives Classic Gaming Titles on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ LucasArts Shutdown Triggers Layoffs at ILM by Cohen, David S. on Variety (April 3, 2013) (archived from the original on December 1, 2020)
- ↑ Electronic Arts Selected for Multi-Year Agreement for the Future of Star Wars Gaming on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars Video Games Now Live Under The Lucasfilm Games Umbrella on GameSpot.com (backup link)
- ↑ New Indiana Jones Game Coming From Wolfenstein Developer on GameSpot.com (backup link)
- ↑ Lucasfilm Games Hits Lightspeed Toward the Future on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Strikes Back with New Remake on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars Eclipse is a multi-character narrative game set in the High Republic era on PC Gamer (archived from the original on January 3, 2023)
- ↑ Star Wars: Eclipse is a new action-adventure game set in the High Republic era from Quantic Dream on The Verge (archived from the original on January 3, 2023)
- ↑
Electronic Arts & Lucasfilm Games announce new Star Wars titles from Respawn Entertainment on Electronic Arts' official website (backup link)
- ↑ Amy Hennig and Skydance New Media Creating New Star Wars Game on StarWars.com (backup link)
External links[]
LucasArts.com on LucasArts.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
LucasArts on Wikipedia- LucasArts on MobyGames
- The Workshop – Official LucasArts Blog
