Game maker LucasArts lays off one-third of staff [updated]

George Lucas' video game business shrank Wednesday as LucasArts laid off about one-third of its approximately 250 person staff, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The San-Francisco based video game publisher has for years struggled to find successes beyond its Star Wars-branded titles. Its only releases so far this year have been two downloadable adventure games, though it will put out a highly anticipated sequel called Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II in October.

"It just comes down to the fact we're reorganizing our team to address the internal needs of our studio,''  company spokeswoman Emilie Hicks said of the cuts.

The laid-off workers were not tied to a specific title. "We're still on track for our upcoming slate of games,''  Hicks added.

[Update, 4:58 p.m.: Most of the laid off staff worked in game production, according to a person familiar with the situation. Other divisions such as marketing and distribution were largely unaffected.]

The company has seen a high level of executive turnover in recent years. Former President Darrell Rodriguez, who came from Electronic Arts, left in May after just two years on the job. He was replaced in June by Paul Meegan, formerly of Gears of War developer Epic Games.

In July, Haden Blackman, who served as creative director on the original Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, LucasArts' most successful internally produced title of recent years, and the sequel, unexpectedly left. However, the company scored a surprise coup in August when Clint Hocking, a high-profile game director from Ubisoft, announced that he would be joining LucasArts.

The company's only other successes in recent years have been the Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones titles produced by the Warner Bros.-owned developer Traveller's Tales. LucasArts is making a massive investment in online multi-player game Star Wars: The Old Republic, which will be released next year.

The layoffs, first reported on the video game site Kotaku, come as a number of traditional video game publishers such as EA and Activision Blizzard have been cutting staff in response to a slowdown in retail sales.

-- Richard Verrier and Ben Fritz

Photo: A scene from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Credit: LucasArts

Comments

[dave]

it was as if one-third of voices suddenly cried out in terror- and were suddenly unemployed

i just hope that all those laid off were the ones who supported the terrible "star destroyer sequence" in the force unleashed

also, i'm fairly certain george coulda taken a $ hit and kept these guys on during the recession

[wholesale Prada Handbags]

It is interesting, I will go back to read them again.

[Jason]

it just goes to show how popular the star wars brand is.

[Heisenberg]

The Star Destroyer sequence in TFU RULED!!!!!

[yohocoma]

That's not how rich people roll.

[All-Hallows-Eve]

Are the displaced workers gonna riot in the streets???
I hear there are some ex-janitors who will jump on the band wagon with 'em.

lol

[robi]

its too bad to hear this stuff, but its inevitable that video games would go the same route as movies. once they can do the same amount of work that would take a team of people gets done in half the time by one guy at a computer, and visually its stunning. they do loose some of their soul though, i have to say...

[HiddenPalm]

This is real sad, my heart goes out to everyone laid off. Richard and Ben, please keep us posted on their status.

When gamers think of Lucas Arts, we think magic. We think fun, we imagine everyone working there is having fun. That our "fun" gaming experience starts at the workshops. We want to hear that the People who made it happen had fun doing it. That the game was made out of love for Star Wars. Now when we think of Lucas Arts we see images of Goldman & Sachs, AIG, Chevron, and all of the massive lay offs all over our country in the Bush/Obama era.

We know what this means. We know this will NOT translate into a cheaper monthly fee. My family lost a number of jobs in recent months. Some of us found work again but no where near the wages they used to make. I'm working, but I'm not sure if I can afford to play this game, and it breaks my heart. As Americans, we know how terrible it is to loose a dream job. My dream job was always at Lucas Arts, because I imagined them different. I used to collect pictures and online videos of their studios and dream. Not anymore, they are just like all the others now.

Horrible news. I could care less if the games fall off now. They were made in darkness. To those layed off, I wouldnt even dare say May The Force be With you ... but God bless you for all of your work. From a worker to another, I will bootleg Lucas Arts games in honor of your work. TOR ... I don't think I want to give my money to it, even if I had it.