b**g
发帖数: 335 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Game 讨论区 】
发信人: borg (伦理审查协会), 信区: Game
标 题: Disney to shut down LucasArts
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Fri Apr 5 13:32:17 2013, 美东)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732391630457840096
Walt Disney Co. is shutting down LucasArts, the
once-pioneering videogame unit of George Lucas's
"Star Wars" empire.
The division had become a shadow of its former self,
and when Disney acquired parent company Lucasfilm in
December for $4 billion it was unclear whether the
media conglomerate would seek to revive LucasArts,
retain its modest operations or close the doors.
The decision to close it was formally announced on
Wednesday. Nearly all of the unit's roughly 200
employees were laid off, according to a person close to
the San Francisco company.
Founded in 1982 as part of Mr. Lucas's then-burgeoning
entertainment empire, LucasArts became an industry
powerhouse in the 1990s. In addition to games based on
the "Star Wars" films, the company was known for
groundbreaking adventure games such as the "Monkey
Island" series and "Maniac Mansion" that are still
cited as landmarks by developers and critics.
But LucasArts has shrunk significantly in the past few
years. The last internally produced game that it
released was 2010's "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II"
and it has been without a president since August of
2012.
Sales of LucasArts games in U.S. stores dropped to $55
million last year, from $173 million in 2006, according
to NPD Group.
There were signs of momentum last year, however, with
the news that LucasArts was working on two new games:
"Star Wars: 1313" and "Star Wars: First Assault."
The move to shut down LucasArts fits with Disney's
broader retrenchment in videogames. The company has
over the past few years closed several game production
studios and is concentrating its resources on "Disney
Infinity," which brings together many of its animated
and live-action characters in a single ambitious and
costly-to-produce title.
Any future games based on "Star Wars" or other
Lucasfilm properties will be made by other companies
under license, a spokesman said. Production on "1313"
and "First Assault" has stopped and those games will be
released only if another publisher signs on to complete
them.
Fewer than 10 LucasArts employees have been retained to
coordinate such external production. It hasn't been
determined whether future licensed games will carry the
LucasArts brand, the spokesman said.
In a statement, Lucasfilm said it closed LucasArts with
the goal of "minimizing the company's risk while
achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars
games."
The commercial release of "Infinity" was recently
delayed to August from June, making it less likely that
the Disney Interactive Media Group will reach its goal
of profitability for the first time in the fiscal year
that ends in September. John Pleasants, Disney
Interactive co-president, previously said the new
release date was picked "to capitalize on the critical
fall retail season."
The videogame business has been particularly
challenging lately. Industrywide sales of new game
discs plummeted 23% in the U.S. last year, according to
NPD. The chief executive of Electronic Arts Inc. EA -
0.03%resigned last month after saying the company had
fallen short of its internal operating plan. In
January, smaller publisher THQ Inc. sold off
its assets in bankruptcy. | k***r
发帖数: 13724 | 2 断章取义，标题卡位把关键词去掉了，就是关了videogame的一个部门而已。 | a****a
发帖数: 3905 | 3 lucasarts就是做video game的。
你搞错了。
【在 k***r 的大作中提到】
: 断章取义，标题卡位把关键词去掉了，就是关了videogame的一个部门而已。
| k***r
发帖数: 13724 | 4 额，原标题乍看以为是关了4b刚买来的那整个一套，还在想搞到了版权就裁人。
【在 a****a 的大作中提到】
: lucasarts就是做video game的。
: 你搞错了。
| i***h
发帖数: 12655 | 5 那个电影部门是个下金蛋的母鸡
可以子子孙孙无穷尽地拍续集
【在 k***r 的大作中提到】
: 额，原标题乍看以为是关了4b刚买来的那整个一套，还在想搞到了版权就裁人。
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