Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game
licensor that is part of
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...
. It was founded in May 1982 by
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
as a video game development group alongside his film company; as part of a larger 1990 reorganization of the Lucasfilm divisions, the video game development division was grouped and rebranded as part of LucasArts. LucasArts became known for
its line of adventure games based on its
SCUMM engine in the 1990s, including ''
Maniac Mansion
''Maniac Mansion'' is a 1987 graphic adventure video game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It follows teenage protagonist Dave Miller as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend Sandy Pantz from a mad scientist, whose mind has been ensla ...
'', the ''
Monkey Island
''Monkey Island'' is a series of adventure games. The first four games in the series were produced and published by LucasArts, earlier known as Lucasfilm Games. The fifth installment of the franchise was developed by Telltale Games in collaborat ...
'' series, and several ''
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
'' titles. A number of influential game developers were alumni of LucasArts from this period, including
Brian Moriarty
Brian Moriarty (born 1956) is an American video game developer who authored three of the original Infocom interactive fiction titles, ''Wishbringer'' (1985), ''Trinity'' (1986), and ''Beyond Zork'' (1987), as well as ''Loom'' (1990) for LucasArt ...
,
Tim Schafer
Timothy John Schafer (born July 26, 1967) is an American video game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in July 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts. Schafer is best known as the designer of critically acclaimed games '' ...
,
Ron Gilbert
Ron Gilbert (born January 1, 1964) is an American video game designer, video-game designer, video game programmer, programmer, and video game producer, producer. His games are generally focused on interactive story-telling, and he is arguably bes ...
, and
Dave Grossman. Later, as Lucasfilm regained control over its licensing over the ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' franchise, LucasArts produced numerous
action-based ''Star Wars'' titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s, while dropping adventure game development due to waning interest in the genre.
Lucasfilm was wholly acquired by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
in December 2012, and by April 2013, Disney had announced the shuttering of LucasArts in all but name, keeping the division around to handle licensing of Lucasfilm properties to third-party developers, primarily
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
, and having any in-house development transferred to
Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher owned by The Walt Disney Company through Disney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed and distributed multi-platform video games and interactiv ...
. Disney has since 2021 revitalized the Lucasfilm Games brand as the licenser of all Lucasfilm-related properties.
History
Early history
In 1979
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
wanted to explore other areas of entertainment and created the Lucasfilm Computer Division in 1979, which included a department for computer games (the Games Group) and another for graphics. The graphics department was spun off into its own corporation in 1982, ultimately becoming
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
.
The Lucasfilm Games Group originally cooperated with
Atari, Inc.
Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry.
Based primarily around the Sunny ...
, which helped fund the video game group's founding,
to produce video games. Though the group had spun out of Lucasfilm, the video game development license for Lucasfilm's ''Star Wars'' was held by Atari at the time, forcing the group to start with original concepts; Ron Gilbert, one of the group's first employees, believed that if the Lucasfilm Games Group had the rights for ''Star Wars'' from the start, they would have never branched into any new intellectual property.
The first products from the Games Group were unique action ''
Ballblazer
''Ballblazer'' is a futuristic sports game created by Lucasfilm Games and published in 1985 by Epyx. Along with ''Rescue on Fractalus!'', it was one of the initial pair of releases from Lucasfilm Games, ''Ballblazer'' was developed and first pub ...
'' and ''
Rescue on Fractalus!
''Rescue On Fractalus!'' is a 1985 first-person shooter computer game created by Lucasfilm Games. It was originally released for the Atari 8-bit family and the Atari 5200 games console. It was also ported to other popular platforms of the day, ...
'', developed in 1984 for the
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to the Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200' ...
console and the
Atari 8-bit computers
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...
. Beta versions of both games were leaked to pirate bulletin boards exactly one week after Atari had received unprotected copies for a marketing review, and were in wide circulation over a year before the original release date. Planned to be released in the 3rd quarter of 1984 under the Atari/Lucasfilm label,
the games were delayed when
Warner Communications
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
sold the assets of the consumer division of Atari, Inc. to
Jack Tramiel
Jack Tramiel ( ; born Idek Trzmiel; December 13, 1928 – April 8, 2012) was an American businessman and Holocaust survivor, best known for founding Commodore International. The Commodore PET, VIC-20 and Commodore 64 are some home compute ...
in July of that year, and were ultimately picked up by publisher
Epyx
Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before rena ...
and released for multiple
home computers in mid-1985.
Lucasfilm's next two games were ''
Koronis Rift
''Koronis Rift'' is a 1985 computer game from Lucasfilm Games. It was produced and designed by Noah Falstein. Originally developed for the Atari 8-bit family and the Commodore 64, ''Koronis Rift'' was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Apple II, MSX, ...
'' and ''
The Eidolon
''The Eidolon'' was one of two games that were part of Lucasfilm Games' second wave in December 1985. The other was '' Koronis Rift''. Both took advantage of the fractal technology developed for ''Rescue on Fractalus!'', further enhancing it. ...
''. Their first games were only developed by Lucasfilm, and a publisher would distribute the games. Atari published their games for Atari systems,
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
and Epyx would do their computer publishing. ''
Maniac Mansion
''Maniac Mansion'' is a 1987 graphic adventure video game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It follows teenage protagonist Dave Miller as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend Sandy Pantz from a mad scientist, whose mind has been ensla ...
'' was the first game to be published and developed by Lucasfilm Games.
The early charter of Lucasfilm Games was to make experimental, innovative, and technologically advanced video games. ''
Habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
'', an early
online role-playing game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
and one of the first to support a graphical front-end, was one such title.
It was only released as a
beta test
A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...
in 1986 by
Quantum Link
Quantum Link (or Q-Link) was an American and Canadian online service for the Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated starting November 5, 1985. It was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia, which later became ...
, an online service for the
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
. Quantum Link could not provide the bandwidth at the time to support the game, so the full Habitat was never released outside of the beta test. However, Lucasfilm Games recouped the cost of development by releasing a sized-down version called ''
Club Caribe
''Habitat'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by LucasArts. It is the first attempt at a large-scale commercial virtual community that was graphic based. Initially created in 1985 by Randy Farmer, Chip Morning ...
'' in 1988. Lucasfilm later licensed the software to
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...
, who released it in Japan as ''Fujitsu Habitat'' in 1990. Fujitsu later licensed Habitat for world-wide distribution, and released an updated version called ''
WorldsAway'' in 1995. The latest iteration of Habitat is still called ''WorldsAway'', which can be found at MetroWorlds.
Initially, the Games Group worked from Lucas'
Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch is a movie ranch and workplace of film director, writer and producer George Lucas located in a secluded area near Nicasio, California, in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, named for an early-20th-century la ...
near
Nicasio, California
Nicasio ( ; Spanish for " Nicasius") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States. It is located west-southwest of Novato, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 census the CDP population w ...
. In 1990, in a reorganization of the Lucas companies, the Games Division of Lucasfilm became part of the newly created LucasArts Entertainment Company, which also comprised
Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...
and
Skywalker Sound
Skywalker Sound is the sound effects, sound editing, sound design, sound mixing and music recording division of Lucasfilm. Founded in 1975, the company's main facilities are located at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in Lucas Valley, near Nicasio, ...
. Later ILM and Skywalker Sound were consolidated in Lucas Digital Ltd. and LucasArts became the official name of the former Games Division. During this, the division had moved out of Skywalker Ranch to near-by offices in
San Rafael, California
San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), ...
.
Also in 1990 LucasArts started to publish ''
The Adventurer'', their own gaming magazine where one could read about their upcoming games and interviews with the developers. The final issue was published in 1996.
In the same year,
Lucas Learning
Lucas Learning was a company founded by George Lucas in 1996 as a spin-off to LucasArts in order to provide challenging, engaging and fun educational software for classrooms. Many of their award-winning titles were based on the national curriculum. ...
was created as a subsidiary of LucasArts, providing
educational software
Educational software is a term used for any computer software which is made for an educational purpose. It encompasses different ranges from language learning software to classroom management software to reference software. The purpose of all t ...
for classrooms.
iMUSE
''iMUSE'' (''Interactive MUsic Streaming Engine'') is an
interactive music
In video games, adaptive music (also called dynamic or interactive music) is background music whose volume, rhythm or tune changes in response to specific events in the game.
History
Adaptive music was first used in the video game ''Frogger'' by ...
system used in a number of LucasArts
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s. It synchronizes music with the visual action in the game, and transitions from one musical theme to another. iMUSE was developed in the early 1990s by composers
Michael Land
Michael Z. Land (born 1961) is an American video game composer and musician best known for his scores for various games produced by LucasArts.
Biography
Early life and career
Michael Land was born in the North Shore area north of Boston, Massa ...
and
Peter McConnell
Peter Nelson McConnell (born April 19, 1960), also known as Peter Mc, is an American video game composer and musician, best known for his work at LucasArts and for composing the soundtracks for every '' Sly Cooper'' game since the second instal ...
while working at LucasArts.
The iMUSE system is
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
ed by LucasArts, and was added to the
SCUMM game engine in 1991. The first game to use iMUSE was ''
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge'' and it has been used in all
LucasArts adventure games
From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, LucasArts was well known for their point-and-click graphic adventure games, nearly all of which received high scoring reviews at the time of their release. Their style tended towards the humorous, often ir ...
since. It has also been used for some non-adventure LucasArts titles, including ''
Star Wars: X-Wing'' (DOS version), ''
Star Wars: TIE Fighter'' (DOS version), and ''
Star Wars: Dark Forces''.
Action side-scrolling games
Lucasfilm Games also released several side-scrollers during the ''Lucasarts'' era, focusing primarily on
run and gun gameplay. A trilogy of games under the name of ''Super Star Wars'' for the
SNES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...
, with each game based on each of the three films from the
Star Wars Original Trilogy
The original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, formerly marketed as the ''Star Wars'' Trilogy (and colloquially referred to as the 'original trilogy'), is the first set of three films produced in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, an American space opera crea ...
: ''
Super Star Wars
''Super Star Wars'' is an Action game, action video game developed by LucasArts and Sculptured Software for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the 1977 film ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope''. It was rel ...
'' (1992), ''
Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'' (1993) and ''
Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi'' (1994). An
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
game based on the first three films of the franchise titled ''
Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures
''Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures'' is a 1994 platform video game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a video game adaptation of the ''Indiana Jones'' films ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981), ''Indiana Jones and the Tem ...
'' (1994) was developed alongside
Factor 5
Factor 5 GmbH is an Independent business, independent software and video game developer. The company was co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name.
In ...
, the first of many joint collaborations between the two studios.
They also released some games not based on their existing IPs. ''
Zombies Ate My Neighbors
''Zombies Ate My Neighbors'' is a run and gun video game developed by LucasArts and published by Konami for the Super NES and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis consoles in 1993.
One or two players take control of protagonists, Zeke and Julie, in order t ...
'' (1993) and its sequel ''
Ghoul Patrol'' (1994) were overhead run and gun side-scrollers inspired by classic 1950's Horror
B-Movies
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...
. A spiritual successor called ''
Herc's Adventures
''Herc's Adventures'' is a video game released for the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn by LucasArts in 1997. The overhead, action-adventure format is similar to ''Zombies Ate My Neighbors''. Up to two players each take on the role of one of three ...
'' was released in 1997 and was inspired by
Greek Mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
. ''
Metal Warriors'' (1995), a side-scroller inspired by mecha anime, and ''
Big Sky Trooper
''Big Sky Trooper'' is a sci-fi action game, produced by JVC Musical Industries and LucasArts for the Super NES in October 1995. The game runs on the ZAMN engine.
Gameplay
At the start of the game, the player chooses an avatar, male or female. ...
'' were also developed using the same engine as ''Zombies Ate My Neighbors''. Though these games sold poorly, they later garnered a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
and are now considered to be Cult Classics from the 16-Bit era.
Adventure games
The first adventure game developed by Lucasfilm Games was ''
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...
'' in 1986, based on the Lucasfilm movie of the same name. The 1987 title ''
Maniac Mansion
''Maniac Mansion'' is a 1987 graphic adventure video game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It follows teenage protagonist Dave Miller as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend Sandy Pantz from a mad scientist, whose mind has been ensla ...
'' introduced
SCUMM, the scripting language behind most of the company's later adventure offerings. The adventures released in the following years, such as ''
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
''Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders'' is a 1988 graphic adventure game by Lucasfilm Games. It was the second game to use the SCUMM engine, after ''Maniac Mansion''. The project was led by David Fox, with Matthew Alan Kane as the co-desig ...
'' in 1988, ''
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure'' in 1989, and the 1990 titles ''
Loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...
'' and ''
The Secret of Monkey Island
''The Secret of Monkey Island'' is a 1990 point-and-click graphic adventure game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It takes place in a fictional version of the Caribbean during the age of piracy. The player assumes the role of Guybr ...
'' helped Lucasfilm Games build a reputation as one of the leading developers in the genre. The original five adventure games created with SCUMM were released in a compilation titled ''LucasArts Classic Adventures'' in 1992.
LucasArts was often referred to as one of the two big names in the field, competing with
Sierra On-line
Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre, ...
as a developer of high quality adventures. The first half of the 1990s was the heyday for the company's adventure fame, with classic titles such as ''
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge'' in 1991, ''
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
''Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis'' is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by LucasArts and originally released on June 1, 1992 for Amiga, DOS and Macintosh. Almost a year later, it was reissued on CD-ROM as an enhance ...
'' in 1992, ''
Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle'' and ''
Sam & Max: Hit the Road'' in 1993, and the 1995 titles ''
Full Throttle'' and ''
The Dig''.
In the latter half of the decade, the popularity of adventure games faded and the costs associated with game development increased as high-resolution art and C.D.-quality audio became standard fare. The PC market wanted titles that would show off expensive new
graphics cards
A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or mistakenly GPU) is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display device, such as a computer moni ...
to best effect, a change replicated in the home console market as the 3D capabilities of the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
,
Sega Saturn
The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...
and
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...
dictated the nature of the majority of games produced for those platforms. The adventure genre failed to find popularity with the masses of new gamers.
Despite their declining popularity, LucasArts still continued to release adventure titles. In 1997, ''
The Curse of Monkey Island
''The Curse of Monkey Island'' is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts in 1997. A sequel to 1991's '' Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge,'' it is the third game in the ''Monkey Island'' series.
It follows protagonist Guybrush ...
'', the last LucasArts adventure game to retain traditional two-dimensional graphics and
point-and-click
Point and click are the actions of a computer user moving a pointer to a certain location on a screen (''pointing'') and then pressing a button on a mouse, usually the left button (''click''), or other pointing device. An example of point and cli ...
interface, was released. This was followed by ''
Grim Fandango
''Grim Fandango'' is a 1998 adventure game directed by Tim Schafer and developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows. It is the first adventure game by LucasArts to use 3D computer graphics overlaid on pre-rendered static background ...
'' in 1998, LucasArts' first attempt to convert a 2D adventure to a 3D environment. The highly stylised visuals,
outstanding soundtrack,
superb voice acting and sophisticated writing earned Grim Fandango many plaudits, including GameSpot's Game of the Year award. ''
Escape from Monkey Island
''Escape from Monkey Island'' is an adventure game developed and released by LucasArts in 2000. It is the fourth game in the ''Monkey Island'' series, and the sequel to the 1997 videogame ''The Curse of Monkey Island''. It is the first game in ...
'' (2000), the fourth installment in the ''Monkey Island'' series, featured the same control scheme as Grim Fandango, and was generally well received. It is the last original adventure game the company has released.
Two sequels to existing franchises, ''
Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels'' and ''
Sam & Max: Freelance Police'', were announced to be in development but these projects were cancelled, in 2003 and 2004 respectively, before the games were finished. When the rights to the
Sam & Max franchise expired in 2005, the creator of Sam & Max,
Steve Purcell
Steven Ross Purcell (born October 1, 1961) is an American cartoonist, animator, game designer and voice actor. He is the creator of the media franchise ''Sam & Max'', for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007. The series has grown to i ...
, regained ownership. He then licensed Sam & Max to
Telltale Games
Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...
to be developed into an
episodic game
An episodic video game is a video game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are develo ...
. Telltale Games is made up primarily of former LucasArts employees who had worked on the Sam & Max sequel and were let go after the project was canceled.
LucasArts halted adventure game development for the next five years, focusing instead on their ''Star Wars'' games. They remained silent and did not rerelease their old games on
digital distribution
Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content (media), content such as Sound recording and reproductio ...
platforms, as other studios were doing at the time. However, in 2002, the company pledged that at least 50% of its releases would have nothing to do with ''Star Wars''.
It was not until 2009 that they returned to the genre. On June 1, 2009, LucasArts announced both ''
The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition'', a high-definition
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
of the original game with revised graphics, music and voice work, and ''
Tales of Monkey Island
''Tales of Monkey Island'' is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games under license from LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the ''Monkey Island'' series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, ''Escape fr ...
'', a new
episodic installment in the ''Monkey Island'' series that was developed by
Telltale Games
Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...
.
Then, on July 6, 2009, they announced that they would be rereleasing a number of their classic games, including ''
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
''Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis'' is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by LucasArts and originally released on June 1, 1992 for Amiga, DOS and Macintosh. Almost a year later, it was reissued on CD-ROM as an enhance ...
'' and ''
LOOM
A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...
'', on
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
. The rereleases were, for the first time, native versions built for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
. This was the first time in many years that the studio had offered any support for its classic adventure titles.
The second game in the
Monkey Island series
''Monkey Island'' is a series of adventure games. The first four games in the series were produced and published by LucasArts, earlier known as Lucasfilm Games. The fifth installment of the franchise was developed by Telltale Games in collabora ...
also received a high-definition remake, entitled ''
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Special Edition'' in 2010. Both Monkey Island special edition games were released in a compilation, ''
Monkey Island Special Edition Collection'', exclusively in Europe in 2011.
The release of the unofficial SCUMM
virtual machine
In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization/emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized hardw ...
,
ScummVM
Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine (ScummVM) is a set of game engine recreations. Originally designed to play LucasArts adventure games that use the SCUMM system, it also supports a variety of non-SCUMM games by companies ...
, has led to something of a resurgence for LucasArts adventure games among present-day gamers. Using ScummVM, legacy adventure titles can easily be run on modern computers and even more unusual platforms such as video game consoles, mobile phones and
PDA
PDA may refer to:
Science and technology
* Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books
*Personal digital assistant, a mobile device
* Photodiode array, a type of detector
* Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...
s.
Simulation games
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lucasfilm Games developed a series of military
vehicle simulation game
Vehicle simulation games are a genre of video games which attempt to provide the player with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles. This includes automobiles, aircraft, watercraft, spacecraft, military vehicles, and a ...
s, the first of which were the naval simulations ''
PHM Pegasus
''PHM Pegasus'' is a ship simulation and action game released for the Commodore 64, Apple II, DOS, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. The title refers to , one of the s which were used by the U.S. Navy in the 1970s.
The game was developed by Luca ...
'' in 1986 and ''
Strike Fleet'' in 1987. These two titles were published by
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
for a variety of computer platforms, including PC,
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
and
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
.
In 1988, ''
Battlehawks 1942
''Battlehawks 1942'' is a naval air combat combat flight simulation game released in 1988 by Lucasfilm Games. It is set in the World War II Pacific air war theatre, and was the first of Lucasfilm Games' trilogy of World War II flight simulations, f ...
'' launched a trilogy of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
air combat simulations, giving the player a chance to fly as an American or Japanese pilot in the
Pacific Theater
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. Battlehawks 1942 was followed by ''
Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain'' in 1989, recreating the battle between the
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
and
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
for Britain's air supremacy. The trilogy ended with ''
Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe
''Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe'' is a World War II air-combat combat flight simulation game first released in August 1991 by LucasArts, Lucasfilm Games.
It was the last of a trilogy of World War II titles by LucasArts, Lucasfilm Games, the o ...
'' in 1991, in which the player could choose to fly on either the American or German side. The trilogy was lauded for its historical accuracy and detailed supplementary material—Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, for instance, was accompanied by a 224-page historical manual. The World War II trilogy was released with cover art by illustrator Marc Ericksen, in a compilation titled ''Air Combat Classics'' in 1994.
The World War II trilogy was created by a team led by
Lawrence Holland
Lawrence Holland is an American video game designer and founder of the now defunct Totally Games. He is best known for the ''Star Wars: X-Wing'' series published by LucasArts.
Early life
His interest in computer programming started when his co ...
, a game designer who later founded Totally Games. Totally Games would continue to develop games almost exclusively to LucasArts for a decade, with the most noted outcome of the symbiosis being
the X-Wing series. They were also responsible for LucasArts' 2003 return to the aerial battles of World War II with ''
Secret Weapons Over Normandy
''Secret Weapons Over Normandy'' is a World War II-based arcade video game. Published by LucasArts and developed by Totally Games, the game is composed of 15 objective-based missions set in 1940s European, North African, and the Pacific theatres ...
'', a title released on
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
,
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
and PC
In 1996, LucasArts released ''
Afterlife
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
'', a
simulator
A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the s ...
in which players build their own
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
and
Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
, with several jokes and puns (such as a prison in Hell called
San Quentin
San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.
Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the o ...
Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensemble ...
).
First ''Star Wars'' games
Even though LucasArts had created games based on other Lucasfilm properties before (''
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...
'', ''
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
''), they did not use the ''Star Wars'' license until the early 1990s, as the ''Star Wars'' license had been held by
Broderbund
Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits ''Choplifter'', ''Lode Runner'', ''Karateka'', and '' ...
until 1992 when they reverted back to Lucasfilm. The first in-house development was the space combat simulator ''
X-Wing
The X-wing starfighter is a name applied to a family of fictional spacecraft manufactured by the Incom Corporation from the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Named for the distinctive shape made when its s-foils (wings) are in attack position, the X-win ...
'', developed by Larry Holland's independent team, which went on to spawn a
successful series.
The CD-ROM-only ''Star Wars'' game ''
Rebel Assault'' became one of the biggest successes of the company and was considered a
killer app
In marketing terminology, a killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is any computer program or software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, a video game ...
for CD-ROM drives in the early 1990s.
First-person shooters
After the unprecedented success of
id Software
id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and ar ...
's ''
Doom
Doom is another name for damnation.
Doom may also refer to:
People
* Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed
* Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist
* Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher
* L ...
'', the PC gaming market shifted towards production of three-dimensional
first person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eye ...
s. LucasArts contributed to this trend with the 1995 release of ''
Star Wars: Dark Forces'', a first person shooter that successfully transplanted the Doom formula to a Star Wars setting. The Dark Forces Strategy guide claims that development was well underway before Doom was released and that the game was pushed back once Doom hit shelves so that it could be polished. The game was well received and spawned a new franchise: the ''Jedi Knight'' games. This began with the sequel to ''Dark Forces'', ''
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II'' released in 1997; this game reflected the changing face of PC gaming, being one of the first games to appreciably benefit when used in conjunction with a dedicated 3D
graphics card
A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or mistakenly GPU) is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display device, such as a computer moni ...
like
3dfx
3dfx Interactive was an American technology company headquartered in San Jose, California, founded in 1994, that specialized in the manufacturing of 3D graphics processing units, and later, video cards. It was a pioneer in the field from the l ...
's Voodoo range. The game received an
expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or an ...
, ''
Mysteries of the Sith
''Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith'' is an expansion pack for the 1997 first-person shooter '' Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II'', developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows in 1998. It was re-released on Steam ...
'', in 1998 and a full sequel in 2002 with ''
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast''. 2003's ''
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy'' can be seen as a spin-off from the series, but was less well received by reviewers, who complained that the franchise was becoming formulaic.
Apart from ''Star Wars''-themed 3D shooters, LucasArts also created the western-themed game ''
Outlaws
An outlaw is a person living outside the law.
Outlaws or The Outlaws may also refer to:
Film and television Film
* ''The Outlaws'' (1950 film), an Italian crime film
* ''Outlaws'' (1985 film), a French film
* ''The Outlaws'' (2017 film), a Sou ...
'' in 1997 and ''
Armed and Dangerous'' (in collaboration with
Planet Moon Studios
Planet Moon Studios was a game development studio based in San Francisco, California founded by ex-Shiny Entertainment developers Nick Bruty (President) and Bob Stevenson (CEO) in 1997. The founding members were then known for creating the Third-p ...
) in 2003.
In the new millennium
In 2000, Simon Jeffery became the LucasArts president. He was president of LucasArts until 2003 and some successful ''Star Wars'' games released during his management like ''Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast'', ''Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2'', ''Knights of the Old Republic'', ''Star Wars Jedi Academy'' and ''Star Wars Galaxies''. Development of some other successful ''Star Wars'' Games began during his management, like ''Star Wars Republic Commando'' and ''Star Wars Battlefront''.
In 2002, LucasArts recognized that the over-reliance on ''Star Wars'' was reducing the quality of its output, and announced that future releases would be at least 50% non-Star Wars-related. However, many of the original titles were either unsuccessful or even cancelled before release, and since then LucasArts again had mainly ''Star Wars'' titles in production.
Also in 2002, LucasArts released a compilation CD filled with music from their past games. The album is titled ''The Best of LucasArts Original Soundtracks'' and features music from the ''Monkey Island'' series, ''Grim Fandango'', ''
Outlaws
An outlaw is a person living outside the law.
Outlaws or The Outlaws may also refer to:
Film and television Film
* ''The Outlaws'' (1950 film), an Italian crime film
* ''Outlaws'' (1985 film), a French film
* ''The Outlaws'' (2017 film), a Sou ...
'', and ''
The Dig''.
2003 saw the fruitful collaboration of LucasArts and
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...
on the well reviewed
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
, ''
Knights of the Old Republic''. Combining modern 3D graphics with high-quality storytelling and a sophisticated
role-playing game system
A role-playing game system is a set of game mechanics used in a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions.
History
By the late 1970s, the Chaosium staff realized that Steve Perrin's ''RuneQuest ...
, this game reinvigorated the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Its 2004 sequel ''
Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords'' continued in the same vein, but LucasArts was criticized for forcing the developer
Obsidian Entertainment
Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Irvine, California. It was founded in June 2003, shortly before the closure of Black Isle Studios, by ex-Black Isle employees Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Par ...
to release the sequel unfinished, resulting in a significant amount of cut content, a disappointing ending and numerous bugs. 2003 also saw the release of ''
Gladius
''Gladius'' () is a Latin word meaning "sword" (of any type), but in its narrow sense it refers to the sword of ancient Roman foot soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those of the Greeks, called '' xiphe'' (plural; singular ''xi ...
'', a gladiator Tactical RPG that was positively received but sold poorly and was even rated as one of the "best Xbox games most people never played" by ''
Official Xbox Magazine
''Official Xbox Magazine'' (or OXM for short) was a British monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released at E3 2001, with another preview issue in November 2001. Th ...
''.
In 2003, LucasArts and the ''Star Wars'' franchise also branched out in a new direction—the world of the
MMORPG
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
, with the creation of ''
Star Wars Galaxies
''Star Wars Galaxies'' was a ''Star Wars'' themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows, developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts.
Released on June 26, 2003, to much critical acc ...
''. After a successful launch, the first expansion,
Jump to Lightspeed, was released in 2004. The new expansion featured the addition of real-time space combat. This was continued in ''
Rage of the Wookiees'', an additional expansion which added an additional planet for users to explore. Also, a new expansion, ''
Trials of Obi-Wan'' was released on November 1, 2005 consisting of several new missions focusing on the Episode 3 planet, Mustafar. While ''Star Wars Galaxies'' still retained a devoted following, it also alienated many players. ''Star Wars Galaxies'' chose to ignore the timeline established in the original films, during which the game is set, and also allowed players to play as Jedi characters. The game also underwent several major redesigns, which were received with mixed reactions by players.
Restructuring under Jim Ward
In April 2004, Jim Ward, V.P. of marketing, online and global distributions at Lucasfilm, was appointed president of LucasArts.
Ward performed a top-to-bottom audit of LucasArts infrastructure, describing the company's state as "quite a mess."
[Smith, ''Rogue Leaders'', 176.] In 2003, LucasArts had reportedly grossed just over $100,000,000 according to
N.P.D., primarily from its ''Star Wars'' titles — significantly less than the grosses from the year's top single titles such as ''
Halo
Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to:
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Video games
* ''Halo'' (franch ...
''.
Ward produced a five-year investment plan to refit the company.
Previous ''Star Wars'' games had been produced by external developers such as
Raven Software
Raven Software Corporation is an American video game developer based in Wisconsin and founded in 1990. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them. After the acquisition, many of the st ...
, BioWare and Obsidian; Ward now prioritized making LucasArts' internal game development work effectively and adapt to the evolving game industry. ''
Star Wars: Battlefront'', ''
Star Wars: Republic Commando'', and ''
Star Wars: Episode III'' survived cuts that closed down other in-development games and reduced staff from about 450 to 190 employees.
Ward also canceled ''Star Wars Rogue Squadron Trilogy'' which was 50% completed and it was going to be released on the Xbox in 2004.
Factor 5 was going to develop a ''Rogue Squadron'' game titled ''Rogue Squadron: X-Wing vs Tie Fighter'' for the Xbox 360 but it was canceled by LucasArts.
After Factor 5's exclusivity with Sony ended they decided to release ''Rogue Squadron Trilogy'' for the Wii, but it was eventually cancelled as well.
In 2004, LucasArts released ''
Star Wars: Battlefront'', based on the same formula as the popular
''Battlefield'' series of games. It ended up becoming the best-selling ''Star Wars'' game of all time to that point, aided by a marketing tie-in with the
original trilogy
The original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, formerly marketed as the ''Star Wars'' Trilogy (and colloquially referred to as the 'original trilogy'), is the first set of three films produced in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, an American space opera cre ...
D.V.D. release. Its sequel, ''
Star Wars: Battlefront II'', was released on November 1, 2005 and featured new locales such as Episode III planets Mustafar, Mygeeto, etc., in addition to space combat, playable Jedi, and new special units like Bothan spies and Imperial officers. In this same year, the second "Knights of the Old Republic" game was in production. LucasArts told
Obsidian Entertainment
Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Irvine, California. It was founded in June 2003, shortly before the closure of Black Isle Studios, by ex-Black Isle employees Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Par ...
that the project needed to be finished by that year's holiday season. Obsidian was forced to cut huge amounts of content from the game, resulting in a rushed, unfinished Knights of the Old Republic II.
In March 2005, LucasArts published ''
Lego Star Wars: The Video Game'', the first game in the popular Lego video game franchise by
Traveller's Tales
Traveller's Tales is a British video game developer and a subsidiary of TT Games. Traveller's Tales was founded in 1989 by Jon Burton and Andy Ingram. Initially a small company focused on its own content, it grew in profile through developing ...
. It was based on the ''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy. In May 2005, LucasArts released ''
Revenge of the Sith
Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...
'', a third person action game based on the film. Also in 2005, LucasArts released ''
Star Wars: Republic Commando'', and one of their few non-''Star Wars'' games, ''
Mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
'', developed by
Pandemic Studios
Pandemic Studios, LLC was an American video game developer based in Westwood, Los Angeles. Andrew Goldman and Josh Resnick founded the studio in 1998 after leaving Activision. Pandemic Studios, alongside BioWare, was acquired in 2005 by Elevation ...
.
On February 16, 2006, LucasArts released ''
Star Wars: Empire at War'', a
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...
game developed by
Petroglyph
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
. September 12, 2006 saw the release of ''
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy'', the sequel to the popular ''Lego Star Wars: The Video Game''. ''Lego Star Wars II'', once again developed by Traveller's Tales and published by LucasArts, follows the same basic format as the first game, but, as the name indicates, covers the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy.
A game titled ''
Traxion'' was announced. ''Traxion'' was a
rhythm game
Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...
which was under development for the
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
by British developer
Kuju Entertainment
Kuju Entertainment Ltd. is a British video game developer. The original company was Simis, formed in 1989 and purchased by Eidos Interactive in 1995. Kuju was formed in 1998 in Shalford, Surrey, England, after a management buyout of Simis from Ei ...
, scheduled to be released in
Q4 2006 by LucasArts, but was instead cancelled in January 2007. The game was to feature a number of
minigame
A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than th ...
s, and would support imported songs from the player's own
mp3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
library as well as the game's bundled collection.
In May 2007, LucasArts announced ''
Fracture
Fracture is the separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacement discontinuity surfaces within the solid. If a displa ...
'' and stated that "new intellectual properties serve a vital role to the growth of LucasArts". ''
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction'' was labelled the number one new IP in 2005 and ''
Thrillville
''Thrillville'' is a simulation and strategy video game developed by Frontier Developments that depicts theme park management, similar to '' RollerCoaster Tycoon''. ''Thrillville'' is available for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and, in Nor ...
'' the number one new children's IP in 2006. Fracture was released on October 7, 2008 to average reviews. ''
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction'' was released on January 11, 2005 to critical and commercial success which led to a sequel, ''
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames''. ''Thrillville'' was released on November 21, 2006, and ''
Thrillville: Off the Rails'' was released on October 16, 2007.
On September 16, 2008, ''
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed'' was released to mixed reviews, though it quickly became the fastest-selling ''Star Wars'' game of all time.
The rapid scaling down of internal projects at LucasArts was also reflected in its handling of games developed by external developers. During the tenure of Ward,
Free Radical
A daughter category of ''Ageing'', this category deals only with the biological aspects of ageing.
Ageing
Ailments of unknown cause
Biogerontology
Biological processes
Causes of death
Cellular processes
Gerontology
Life extension
Metabo ...
was contracted to produce ''Star Wars: Battlefront III'', which had been in production for 2 years. Free Radical co-founder Steve Ellis described how working with LucasArts evolved from being "the best relationship we'd ever had with a publisher"
to withholding money for 6 months and abusing the independent developer's position to withhold the full project cancellation fee—this was a major event which contributed towards Free Radical entering administration.
Last years as part of an independent Lucasfilm
Ward left the company in early February 2008, for personal reasons. He was replaced by Howard Roffman as interim president. Darrell Rodriguez, who came from Electronic Arts, took Roffman's place in April 2008. About a month prior to release of ''
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II'', LucasArts scaled down the internal development studio. The aforementioned game received a mediocre score from some media outlets such as
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
,
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
and
GameTrailers
''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...
. After release, minor adjustment in staffing resulted in even more layoffs.
The successor to ''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords'', in the form of the
MMORPG
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
''
Star Wars: The Old Republic'', was announced on October 21, 2008, at an invitation-only press event. developed by
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...
. It was released in December 2011.
They also published ''
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes'' in 2009 for all current systems. The game is a tie-in to ''
The Clone Wars''
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
and was released on October 6, 2009, receiving generally negative reviews.
During television network
G4's coverage of the 2006
E3 Convention, a LucasArts executive was asked about the return of popular franchises such as ''Monkey Island''. The executive responded that the company was currently focusing on new franchises, and that LucasArts may return to the "classic franchises" in 2015, though it was unclear as to whether the date was put forwards as an actual projection, or hyperbole. This turned out to be hyperbole, as LucasArts and
Telltale Games
Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...
announced new adventure games in a joint press release in 2009. The games announced were ''
Tales of Monkey Island
''Tales of Monkey Island'' is a 2009 graphic adventure video game developed by Telltale Games under license from LucasArts. It is the fifth game in the ''Monkey Island'' series, released nearly a decade after the previous installment, ''Escape fr ...
'', which was to be developed by Telltale, and a LucasArts-developed
enhanced remake
A video game remake is a video game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game with updated graphics for newer hardware and gameplay for contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake of such game software sh ...
of the 1990 title ''The Secret of Monkey Island'', with the intent of bringing the old game to a new audience.
According to LucasArts, this announcement was "just the start of LucasArts’ new mission to revitalize its deep portfolio of beloved gaming franchises". Following the success of this, LucasArts released the sequel, ''
Monkey Island 2 – Special Edition'' in the summer of 2010.
The company began experiencing turnovers in layoffs in 2010. Rodriguez left in May after just two years on the job. A Lucasfilm board of Directors and a game industry veteran, Jerry Bowerman, filled in during the transition. Rodriguez was ultimately replaced in June by Paul Meegan, formerly of Gears of War developer Epic Games.
In July 2010, 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 2010 when
Clint Hocking
Clint Hocking (born 18 September 1972) is a Canadian video game designer and director. He has primarily worked at the Canadian divisions of Ubisoft, where he developed three titles, and briefly worked at LucasArts, Valve, and Amazon Game Studi ...
, a high-profile game director from Ubisoft, announced that he would be joining LucasArts. His tenure at LucasArts was short lived however, as Hocking left LucasArts in June 2012 before the game he was working on was released. In September 2010, a third of the employees at LucasArts were laid off.
In March 2011, LucasArts published a sequel to the popular Lego Star Wars series, ''
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars'', based on the
''Clone Wars'' animated series, once again developed by Traveller's Tales.
Sony Online Entertainment
Daybreak Game Company LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. The company was founded in December 1997 as Sony Online Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment, but was spun off to an independent investor in ...
announced in June 2011 that Star Wars Galaxies would be shutting down at the end of 2011. Its services were terminated on December 15, 2011.
Another canceled title of Lucasarts was a Darth Maul game which was going to be developed by the same company which made the Wii version of The Force Unleashed II.
On April 26, 2011, LucasArts announced that it had acquired a license from
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, M ...
to develop a number of future titles using the
Unreal Engine 3
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genre ...
for a number of platforms. ''
Star Wars 1313
''Star Wars 1313'' is a cancelled action-adventure video game that was under development by LucasArts. The game would take a more mature, gritty direction compared to past ''Star Wars'' video games and, like 2002's '' Star Wars: Bounty Hunter'', ...
'', a proposed
action-adventure
The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...
about
Boba Fett
Boba Fett ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. First appearing in the ''Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978), where he was voiced by Don Francks, he is an armored bounty hunter featured in both the original and prequel fi ...
navigating
Coruscant
Coruscant () is an ecumenopolis planet in the fictional ''Star Wars'' universe. Its first appearance was onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of ''Return of the Jedi'', but was first depicted and mentioned by name in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel '' ...
's subterranean underworld, was confirmed to use the Unreal Engine 3. However, the game was cancelled as a result of the closure of the development arm of LucasArts.
In April 2012, LucasArts published ''
Kinect Star Wars
''Kinect Star Wars'' is a '' Star Wars'' video game developed by Terminal Reality and published by LucasArts and Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 that uses the Kinect motion peripheral. The game features four game modes: "Jedi Destiny", the p ...
'', developed by
Terminal Reality
Terminal Reality is an American video game development and production company based in Lewisville, Texas. Founded in October 1994 by ex-Microsoft employee Mark Randel and former Mallard Software general manager Brett Combs, Terminal Reality deve ...
, for the
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
. It was poorly reviewed by critics, receiving an aggregated score of 53.32% on
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
and 55/100 on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
In August 2012, Meegan, who replaced Rodriguez as president in 2010, also left his position at LucasArts after just two years on the job. Kevin Parker and Gio Corsi were named to co-lead the studio until the studio would choose a permanent president, with the former as interim head of business operations and the latter as interim head of studio production.
The last game released through LucasArts as a subsidiary of an independent Lucasfilm was ''
Angry Birds Star Wars
''Angry Birds Star Wars'' is a discontinued puzzle video game, a crossover between the ''Star Wars'' franchise and the ''Angry Birds'' series of video games, launched on November 8, 2012, first for Windows, iOS, and Android devices, later also t ...
'', a game that gave the ''
Angry Birds
''Angry Birds'' is a Finnish action-based media franchise created by Rovio Entertainment. The game series focuses on the eponymous flock of angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs. Inspired by the game ''Crush the Castle ...
'' characters costumes and abilities based on the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy. It was released on November 8, 2012, before the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm was finalized. The game was developed and published by
Rovio Entertainment
Rovio Entertainment Oyj (formerly Relude Oy and Rovio Mobile Oy and doing business internationally as the Rovio Entertainment Corporation) is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Founded in 2003 by Helsinki University of Technology s ...
, and licensed by LucasArts.
Acquisition by Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
acquired Lucasfilm and its subsidiaries including LucasArts by December 21, 2012, following regulatory approval in a deal for . At the time, there were no plans for any downsizing of Lucasfilm divisions, and a LucasArts representative said that "for the time being, all projects are business as usual". In the months that followed, LucasArts was believed to be working on three untitled games: an open-world RPG,
an FPS, and an aerial combat game. This included refocusing work away from ''Star Wars'' games already in development such as ''Star Wars 1313'' and ''First Assault'' to put more focus on ''
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens''.
Lucasfilm announced on April 3, 2013, that it was shuttering its video game development practice, laying off most of the LucasArts staff. Any further game development would be handled by
Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher owned by The Walt Disney Company through Disney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed and distributed multi-platform video games and interactiv ...
or licensed to third-party developers.
[ A skeleton staff of fewer than ten employees remained at LucasArts to function as a video game licensor.] Disney indicated that the new business model would " inimizethe company's risk while achieving a broad portfolio of quality ''Star Wars'' games." Around 150 staff members lost their jobs as a result of the closure. The layoffs at LucasArts also resulted in layoffs at fellow visual effects subsidiary Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...
; as many of LucasArts' employees also worked for ILM, the company was left overstaffed. Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
became one of the major third-party publishers for ''Star Wars'' games through an exclusive multi-year license, while Disney Interactive Studios would handle development for the casual gaming market of "mobile, social, tablet and online game categories".
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. Later that week, it was announced that MachineGames
MachineGames Sweden AB is a Swedish video game developer based in Uppsala. The studio was founded in 2009 by seven former employees of Starbreeze Studios, including founder Magnus Högdahl. After unsuccessfully pitching game ideas to several pu ...
was developing a game based upon the ''Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
'' franchise with Todd Howard
Todd Andrew Howard (born 1970) is an American video game designer, director, and producer. He serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the ''Fallout'' and ''The Elder Scrolls'' s ...
serving as an executive producer and Bethesda publishing the game, and that Massive Entertainment
Massive Entertainment AB is a Swedish video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Malmö. The company has been fully owned by Ubisoft since 2008. The studio is known for ''Tom Clancy's The Division'', '' The Division 2'', '' Ground Co ...
was developing an open world ''Star Wars'' game with Julian Gerighty serving as creative director and Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
publishing the game. It was also revealed that EA was still in development on several games based upon the ''Star Wars'' franchise. In September 2021, it was announced that a remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
of ''Knights of the Old Republic'' was in development. The game is being developed by Aspyr
Aspyr Media, Inc. (pronounced " aspire") is an American video game developer and publisher founded by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in Austin, Texas. Originally founded to bring top gaming titles to macOS, the company, since 2005, has become a ...
for Windows and PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
, for which it will serve as a timed console-exclusive. In December 2021, ''Star Wars Eclipse'' was announced at The Game Awards 2021
The Game Awards 2021 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2021. The event was hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator and producer of The Game Awards, and was held to an invited audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on De ...
; it is an action-adventure game
The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...
in the early stages of development by Quantic Dream
Quantic Dream SA is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in May 1997, Quantic Dream has developed five video games: ''The Nomad Soul'' (1999), ''Fahrenheit'' (2005), ''Heavy Rain'' (2010), '' Beyond: Two Souls'' ...
. The game will feature multiple playable characters with branching narratives. It is set in the ''Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' universe and is part of the '' High Republic'' multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
project, which places the events of the game 200 years before the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy. In January 2022, it was announced that Respawn Entertainment
Respawn Entertainment, LLC is an American video game development studio founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella. West and Zampella previously co-founded Infinity Ward and created the '' Call of Duty'' franchise, where they were responsible for ...
would be developing multiple Star Wars games, including a '' Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order'' sequel, entitled ''Jedi: Survivor'', alongside FPS
FPS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* "F.P.S." (''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''), an episode of the TV show ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''
* '' fps magazine'', a defunct magazine about animation
* ''The Fabulous Picture Show'', a televi ...
and Strategy
Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...
video games. In April 2022, it was announced that ''Lucasfilm Games'' would be co-publishing ''Return to Monkey Island'' alongside Devolver Digital
Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilso ...
, a sequel to ''LeChuck's Revenge'' with series creator Ron Gilbert
Ron Gilbert (born January 1, 1964) is an American video game designer, video-game designer, video game programmer, programmer, and video game producer, producer. His games are generally focused on interactive story-telling, and he is arguably bes ...
returning to develop the game with his company ''Terrible Toybox.'' That same month, 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
Amy Hennig (born August 19, 1964) is an American video game director and script writer, formerly for the video game company Naughty Dog. She began her work in the industry on the Nintendo Entertainment System, with her design debut on the Super ...
leading the project.
Logo
The original Lucasfilm Games logo was based upon the existing Lucasfilm movie logo, with a number of variations on it being used. This logo was later brought back when the Lucasfilm Games branding was revived in 2021. The long-lived LucasArts logo, affectionately known as the "Gold Guy", was introduced in 1990 and first used within ''Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge'' (the first game shipped under the LucasArts name). The logo consisted of a crude gold-colored figure inspired from a similar petroglyph
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
, standing on a purple letter "L" inscribed with the company name. The figure had its hands up in the air, as if a sun were rising from behind him. It was also said to resemble an eye, with the rays of the sun as eyelashes. The logo was revised in late 2005, losing the letter "L" pedestal and introducing a more rounded version of the gold-colored figure. The last game to feature the original "Gold Guy" was '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'', while the new logo was first seen in '' Star Wars: Battlefront II''. In the games, the figure sometimes does an action like throw a lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent plasma blade about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the or ...
or cast Force Lightning
The Force is a metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the '' Star Wars'' fictional universe. "Force-sensitive" characters use the Force throughout the franchise. Heroes like the Jedi seek to "become one with the Force", matching their personal wi ...
.
In 1998, LucasArts approached Finnish game developer Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment Oyj, trading internationally as Remedy Entertainment Plc, is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Notable games the studio has developed include the first two instalments in the '' Max Payne'' franchise, ''Alan ...
, citing that their logo was copied from the top portion of the LucasArts logo, and threatened legal action. Remedy was by that time already in the process of redesigning their logo, so they complied by taking their old logo offline from their website, and introducing their new logo a little later.
Legacy
Ex-LucasArts developers have founded numerous San Francisco game development studios such as Double Fine Productions
Double Fine Productions, Inc. is an American First-party developer, first-party video game developer of Xbox Game Studios based in San Francisco, California. Founded in July 2000 by Tim Schafer shortly after his departure from LucasArts, Double ...
(2000), Telltale Games
Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...
(2004), MunkyFun (2008), Dynamighty (2011), SoMa Play (2013), and Fifth Journey (2015) playing a significant role in the continued development of computer games in the Bay Area.
At the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publisher ...
, Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
announced ''Grim Fandango Remastered
''Grim Fandango'' is a 1998 adventure game directed by Tim Schafer and developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows. It is the first adventure game by LucasArts to use 3D computer graphics overlaid on pre-rendered static backgrou ...
'', developed by Double Fine Productions
Double Fine Productions, Inc. is an American First-party developer, first-party video game developer of Xbox Game Studios based in San Francisco, California. Founded in July 2000 by Tim Schafer shortly after his departure from LucasArts, Double ...
as a console exclusive for PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
platforms. It was released in 2015 for PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
, PlayStation Vita
The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...
, Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
, Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
, Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
, and iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
. During Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
's new PlayStation Experience
PlayStation Experience, also known as PSX, is an annual event for the video game industry presented by Sony Interactive Entertainment used to reveal and advertise PlayStation games and game-related merchandise. The event is open to the public an ...
convention in 2014, another remaster by Double Fine, ''Day of the Tentacle Remastered
''Day of the Tentacle'', also known as ''Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle'', is a 1993 graphic adventure game developed and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 1987 game ''Maniac Mansion''. The plot follows Bernard Bernoulli a ...
'', was announced. It was released in March 2016 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux. At the 2015 PlayStation Experience, another remastered game by Double Fine was announced, '' Full Throttle Remastered''. It was released in April 2017 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux.
See also
* List of LucasArts games
*LucasArts adventure games
From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, LucasArts was well known for their point-and-click graphic adventure games, nearly all of which received high scoring reviews at the time of their release. Their style tended towards the humorous, often ir ...
* LucasArts Archives
*Humongous Entertainment
Humongous Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in 1992, the company is best known for developing multiple edutainment franchises, most prominently ''Putt-Putt (series), Putt-Putt'', ''Fred ...
References
Footnotes
Citations
Sources
*
External links
*
The Workshop – Official LucasArts Blog
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucasarts
1982 establishments in California
American companies established in 1982
Companies based in San Francisco
Disney acquisitions
Golden Joystick Award winners
Lucasfilm
Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Video game companies established in 1982
Video game companies based in California
Video game companies of the United States
Video game development companies
Video game publishers