In perspective - LucasArts Closing

LucasArts Closing

What you heard

See, that's what happens when you release shitty games. Between Star Wars: Kinect, a generic first person shooter in 1313 and endless Lego games, LucasArts lost touch with their core fan base. It was only a matter of time until someone realizes there was no point keeping them around and to be honest, they got what they deserved.

Except

LucasArts has not had a financially unsuccessful game in about 20 years. Star Wars: Kinect, while having an average rating of 55 on Metacritic, topped sales charts for 3 weeks and spawned a limited edition $450 xBox. Clone Wars was the best selling Lego Star Wars game to date, despite it being the lowest rated.

So what's the deal?

I get it. You think because you hate Jar Jar Binks and Boba Fett you are a BETTER and more deserving Star Wars fan than the 12 year olds that watch Clone Wars today (even though you were around 12 when you first watched the originals and begged your Mom to buy you an Ewok toy). You need to get over the fact Star Wars is not FOR you anymore. Star Wars box office sales are around $4.2 billion total, but toy sales account for more than $12 billion. That's more than Movies, DVDs, and Video games COMBINED. Star Wars is marketed to children, and therefor Star Wars games need to be marketed to children, and the parents that buy these games don't care how well it's rated or even if it's any good. If it shuts junior up for a few days, it was well worth the money.

The problem isn't that LucasArts isn't able to push product and make successful games, it's that the two most profitable Star Wars games ... FOR LUCASARTS ... in the last 5 years are SW:TOR and Star Wars Angry Birds. The observant among you might note that LucasArts did not spent one single minute or dollar on developing either of these games. They were licensed products developed by other established teams. And that's all Disney sees. Why spend millions of dollars a year on a studio when we can just charge other developers to slap a Star Wars sticker on their game?

So if you thought Star Wars: Kinect was bad, just wait and see what comes out now that the license is for sale without accountability. The EA Sports Star Wars series including Star Wars Golf, the Star Wars facebook game where you play a moisture farmer, Real Petz: Bantha ... ok wait, I would totally buy that one but you get my point.