LucasArts force choked. Lays off up to 100 employees.

[Queasy]

Kotaku has the details

We've heard from multiple sources today that LucasArts has laid off approximately 50-100 of its employees, including a handful of higher profile names like VP of Product Development Peter Hirschmann. The move comes just a few days after the publisher and developer released LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures on multiple platforms and four months after the departure of LucasArts president Jim Ward.

When Ward resigned, the company cited "personal reasons," but an alleged and anonymous LucasArts employee later suggested in a post on Gamasutra that Ward may have been pressured to leave, pointing to differing philosophies within the company.

That anonymous poster wrote "There are some that believe that more money can be made by licensing the SW and Indiana Jones IP to third party developers than through in-house development," hinting that the change in leadership "could spell trouble for the LucasArts division."

Ward was replaced by interim president Howard Roffman until former EA COO Darrell Rodriguez was named president in April. Whether the rumored layoffs are part of a plan to reorganize LucasArts development is unknown.

We've contacted LucasArts for clarification and comment, but did not hear back as of press time.

Update: While LucasArts public relations did not get back to us today, several former LucasArts staffers did, with one telling us that 75-100 employees were laid off from the company, including the producer of LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Shawn Storc.

According to another source, up to 80% of staff has been laid off in departments such as Production Services, which includes QA and Compliance, with jobs planned to be outsourced overseas. Cuts were also said to be made in development, with art and programming staffers being laid off.

More

We've continued to receive e-mails throughout the day from folks who it seems are now formerly in the employ of Lucasarts, telling us this and that about the circumstances behind their departure from the company. But few are as revealing as one we were sent earlier this evening. One former employee has told us not only how he was immediately sacked after six years of service, but how wide-ranging the layoffs appear to be, and the impact they'll supposedly have on many of Lucasart's upcoming projects. Some of them as-yet-unannounced. Projects like KOTOR 3, a Wii Star Wars title and the non-Lego Indiana Jones game.

The source tells us that the sackings are spread across the company, and involve (as we were told earlier) everyone from testers to head producers. They also re-iterate earlier reports that the number of staff affected is around 100, and that the cull actually began on Wednesday, and continued through into Thursday.

Most interesting, however, is the information they provide on how the layoffs leave the company severely short-staffed as they approach a packed development schedule, one which it appears may be increasingly outsourced. Some of the titles they report Lucasarts apparently have in this stacked pipeline, whether as publisher or developer, include:

- KOTOR 3 (They say it's an MMO: most likely a joint project between Lucasarts and BioWare)
- Battlefront 3 (which we've already heard about)
- "The Official Indiana Jones" game (probably this one)
- "another LEGO game based on the Indy universe"
- "a lightsaber game for the wii (sorry, no lightsaber peripherals)"

Two internally-developed games apparently far enough along to be unaffected by the sackings are The Force Unleashed (which they say has already "passed approval with SCEA and is ready to ship") and Fracture, which they say is described by team members as "an absolute piece of garbage".

As the testimony of a freshly-sacked employee, take that appraisal of Fracture with a grain of salt. And as the testimony of a freshly-sacked employee, don't expect Lucasarts or BioWare to go commenting on things like KOTOR3 or a Wii lightsaber game anytime soon. But it's certainly further food for thought.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I thought the Lego games were pretty successful though... sucks for the people involved in those games. I guess LucasArts is putting all their eggs in the Force Unleashed basket. And even though they claim that TFU development won't be affected by these layoffs, I imagine it could still play a role since morale at the company was probably pretty poor these last several months.

 

[CasioTech]

more outsourcing, no surprise there.

haha all the starwars-wiiboys will jump cliff when they find out there is no wiisaber game being made anytime soon.

 

[Dumac]

Wiiboys? What an interesting term.

 

[mugs]

...and Fracture, which they say is described by team members as "an absolute piece of garbage".

I love it :laugh:

That sucks though... I hope they don't destroy the LEGO series by licensing it to a third-party.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: mugs
...and Fracture, which they say is described by team members as "an absolute piece of garbage".

I love it :laugh:
...

That's hilarious. IIRC, the premise of the game is that you can make a piece of the ground rise up, or sink down. It didn't look all that exciting, but I'm interested to see how it's turning out, which is apparently not well.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: mugs
...and Fracture, which they say is described by team members as "an absolute piece of garbage".

I love it :laugh:

That's not the first time that I've heard this about Fracture. I remember reading something a long time ago about what a mess the internal development tools that were being used on this game were. I think it was around the time that the LucasArts Pres at the time was forced out.

That sucks though... I hope they don't destroy the LEGO series by licensing it to a third-party.

Well, Traveller's Tales is the developer of the LEGO series so it was being made 3rd party already. Their Wiki page says that they were recently bought by Warner Bros. though. I don't know what that means for their relationship with LucasArts.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: Queasy
...

Well, Traveller's Tales is the developer of the LEGO series so it was being made 3rd party already. Their Wiki page says that they were recently bought by Warner Bros. though. I don't know what that means for their relationship with LucasArts.

LEGO Free Willy? LEGO Police Academy? LEGO Matrix Trilogy? :Q

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Well, Traveller's Tales is the developer of the LEGO series so it was being made 3rd party already. Their Wiki page says that they were recently bought by Warner Bros. though. I don't know what that means for their relationship with LucasArts.

If the producer worked for LucasArts, then apparently LucasArts had close oversight of the development. If they just license the IP to someone, they'd be more or less hands-off.

 

[beat mania]

Time for someone to license the right for Tie Fighter 2.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: R Nilla

Originally posted by: Queasy
...

Well, Traveller's Tales is the developer of the LEGO series so it was being made 3rd party already. Their Wiki page says that they were recently bought by Warner Bros. though. I don't know what that means for their relationship with LucasArts.

LEGO Free Willy? LEGO Police Academy? LEGO Matrix Trilogy? :Q

LEGO Batman coming up this fall.

I for one am looking forward to LEGO Aquaman.

 

[Queasy]

Laid off because of EA purchases?

LucasArts may be saying publically that that its recent mass layoffs were due to development cycles, but at least one analyst says the decision may be more about film studio politics and a new connection with Electronic Arts.

Analyst Michael Pachter estimated that prior to the layoffs, LucasArts had approximately 200 employees, the balance of whom were tasked essentially with liaising between George Lucas' intellectual properties and the only three development studios ever to build games on those properties: BioWare, Pandemic and UK-based Traveller's Tales.

Their primary role, Pachter said, was to ensure proper treatment of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones IP, manage business relationships with the studios, and handle marketing of the properties.

In April, former Electronic Arts LA COO Darrell Rodriguez took over for the recently-departed Jim Ward as LucasArts' president. We can assume Rodriguez still has close liaisons with EA, or at least a confident familiarity with EA's business practices, said Pachter. And with EA now owning two out of three Lucas IP development studios in BioWare and Pandemic, it would appear there is no further need for such a large staff while Rodriguez is on board at LucasArts.

"If I'm Rodriguez and I know that I'm going to do most of my games with EA going forward, then I'm a lot less anal about double-checking everything EA is up to," said Pachter.

An anonymous former LucasArts employee had the same speculation: "My guess: EA cut a deal and is already making Star Wars games! That's just a guess, but on the heels of the Bioware/EA thing and the hiring of EALA's COO as Lucasarts' new President... that math ain't hard to figure."

Film studio politics could be playing a role here too, said Pachter. Traveller's Tales is owned by Warner Bros., and can be expected to focus on making games based on WB properties like Harry Potter in the future. It would be highly unlikely, said Pachter, that WB would allow Traveller's to work on future Indiana Jones games when rival studio Paramount (Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull) would reap the benefits.

In other words, if WB won't be doing any George Lucas films, then a development studio it owns won't be doing any George Lucas games, and that means LucasArts has a limited need to deal with the UK-based studio.

"Why would Paramount want Warner Bros. to mess with their movie?" Said Pachter. "At least EA has a good reputation with the [film] studios and does a good job on the kid-friendly games."

So with a relationship to the UK studio reduced if not eliminated, and with EA's BioWare within a close radius of LucasArts, and with former EA exec Rodriguez at the helm, there's hardly any need for a large staff to handle IP development, said Pachter.

The analyst added, "If I were EA, I would go in to George Lucas and try to buy LucasArts."

When Kotaku spoke to LucasArts earlier today, a representative stressed the publisher's good health and commitment to its internal studio. "We are healthy," she said. "LEGO Indie was launched on seven platforms to positive reviews, The Force Unleashed and Fracture are on track for this fall. We have a good slate of games and we have some good stuff going on in production.

"We are definitely committed to the internal studio."

Despite the layoff of what sources have told us could be up to 80 percent of LucasArts' staff, Pachter doesn't believe the publisher is in dire straits financially, however.

"Don't think about LucasArts as a stand-alone entity that must make a certain profit," he said. "It's wholly owned by George Lucas, and George has more money than God. I would not ever worry about George Lucas being in financial trouble."

LucasArts declined to comment. We have contacted EA and as of press time, are awaiting reply.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Laid off because of EA purchases?

The Empire Strikes Back :Q

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: CasioTech
more outsourcing, no surprise there.

haha all the starwars-wiiboys will jump cliff when they find out there is no wiisaber game being made anytime soon.

You realize by "outsource" they mean outside of Lucas Arts specifically..

 

[biggestmuff]

"an absolute piece of garbage"

Ah, no! I was looking forward to that game. That's the first I've heard about trouble with the game. I see someone above post about past internal struggles with the game. Hopefully, they'll turn it around and put out a good product. I really doubt it, though.

I honestly haven't played a good LucasArts game since back in the early days with the Tie Fighter series, the two Rebel Assault games and Full Throttle; all on PC FWIW.

 

[CasioTech]

bs, the best LA game was Indiana jones and the fate of atlantis



HANDS DOWN!!!

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: beat mania
Time for someone to license the right for Tie Fighter 2.

Amen

 

[RandomFool]

Originally posted by: CasioTech
bs, the best LA game was Indiana jones and the fate of atlantis



HANDS DOWN!!!

For once I actually agree with you.

 

[CasioTech]

straight. I still have it, is there anyway I can play it on XP?

The fist fights, the music, the puzzles... no game can capture me as that game did.

 

[RESmonkey]

KOTOR 3 MMO = the end of WoW.

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
KOTOR 3 MMO = the end of WoW.

It could be, unless Blizzard has another golden MMO in the wings *cough Diablo 3 cough*

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: potato28

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
KOTOR 3 MMO = the end of WoW.

It could be, unless Blizzard has another golden MMO in the wings *cough Diablo 3 cough*

True, but WoW has a better chance at fighting a KOTOR MMO than a Diablo MMO. WoW is already full blown. The main reason I say KOTOR could stand up is because of the large SW fan base.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: potato28
It could be, unless Blizzard has another golden MMO in the wings *cough Diablo 3 cough*

A StarCraft MMORPG would be a better competitor to a KotOR MMORPG than a Diablo MMORPG (due to a Sci-Fi setting).

 

[benzylic]

The message of the day in COD4 multiplayer lobby today was

LucasArts: InfinityWard is hiring (emailaddress)

I thought that was kind of cool