Today’s news that Disney will close long-lived developer LucasArts, while perhaps not surprising, suggested one casualty sure to hit gamers close to home – Star Wars 1313, the gritty action game first revealed at E3 2012 to much fanfare. News of the developer’s closure brought with it reports that the title (as well as others) was six feet under, but Game Informer reports that may not be the case.
The gaming news magazine, one of the first outlets to break the news of LucasArts’ closure, spoke to a LucasFilm representative about the closure. The rep commented on 1313 and Star Wars: First Assault, noting the company will look into the possibility of shifting projects currently in development to outside developers. Per GI’s article:
“It is worth noting that we are looking for proven external partners who can help us provide video games to our fans. We still believe in the video game industry, we still will provide Star Wars games, we’re just looking at different models rather than internal production… They’re evaluating everything. There’s always a possibility that it [Star Wars 1313] can still come out via licensing.”
The representative also noted that the closure of the studio was not made lightly; the closure’s been in talks since Disney acquired LucasArts in October. The rep says that “it just got to a point where from a business standpoint we couldn’t continue developing those internally and keep up with the direction that the company was going.”
As noted, 1313 made a big splash when it was first revealed during last year’s E3 show. The game purported to put players into the role of a bounty hunter exploring the subterranean 1313 level of city-planet Coruscant as he unravels a criminal conspiracy. Fans responded to the game positively, based in part on the gritty, realistic nature of the footage.
Are you excited by the possibility of 1313 gaining a second wind? Let us know in the comments.