As of this morning Disney has closed down LucasArts, the developer and publisher of a staggering amount of games mainly comprised of Star Wars titles. This comes after Disney’s acquisition of the entire Star Wars franchise last fall. This news was confirmed by Game Informer along with the following statement from Disney:

“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.”

While an exact number of effected people has yet to be said, Kotaku is reporting that the number is 150 employees. They also report that Both Star Wars 1313 and Star Wars: First Assault are cancelled, although the oppurtinity for the two to be bought and used by a different developer is still a possibility.

This shouldn’t come as a massive surprise with many recent LucasArts games releasing to luke-warm reviews and sales. Even Bioware’s MMORPG Star Wars The Old Republic that reviewed well, failed to hold gamers attentions for long.

During their run LucasArts didn’t just develop Star Wars games. Their back catalogue include numerous Indiana Jones games and many of the works that made Tim Schafer name, such as Full Throttle and Grim Fandango.

We here at VGU wish the men and women who are now out of a job the best of luck in the future.