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The Lucasfilm Games label has been revived for all future Star Wars video games.

Update, January 14, 2021:

Since the announcement of Lucasfilm Games – a licensor for Lucasfilm properties, not a “proper” developer in the LucasArts mould – we’ve seen two big games announced. From major studios. From massive publishers. From Lucasfilm’s two biggest properties. It’s an exciting time.

The first to break cover was an Indiana Jones game from Swedish studio Machine Games, the Bethesda (now Microsoft-owned) studio behind the Wolfenstein series reboot.

With Tomb Raider and Uncharted the template, it’s hard to know exactly what a Machine Games Indiana Jones will look like. Slick movement, including the famous whip? Almost certainly. First-person? Probably. Lots of shooting? No doubt.

But what there will definitely be is lots of punching nazis. And right now, we all need to punch some nazis.

The second game to be revealed – again, with just a non-commital teaser trailer – is an open-world Star Wars game from Massive Entertainment, the (also) Swedish studio behind Ubisoft’s The Division series.

People are crying out for single-player Star Wars experiences after EA canned a bunch of promising ones in favour of its multiplayer-focused Battlefront series. Even the distinctly average Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order was lapped up, such is the audience’s desire for solo Star Wars stories.

What’s interesting is that, in The Division and its sequel, Massive made some solid loot-shooters. The problem with the franchise is that right-wing, NRA-friendly, Tom Clancy license. We struggled with it already, but following recent events, it’s going to be hard to sell playing as a private militia using force to “take back control” of the US set to a backdrop of the ruined Capitol. (Reminder: Ubisoft says The Division 2 is definitely not political. Honest.)

Hopefully, Massive will be allowed to centre their story around the Jedi and the Light Side of the Force. It would be a real shame to be allowed to move on from Tom Clancy games then get placed straight into the fascist jackboots of the Empire and the Sith.

Original story, January 12, 2021:

The news comes via a statement posted on the official Star Wars website:

“Lucasfilm Games is now the official identity for all gaming titles from Lucasfilm, a name that encompasses the company’s rich catalog of video games and its eye toward the future.”

Lucasfilm Games was formed by George Lucas in the early 1980s and produced a host of groundbreaking games including The Eidolon, Rescue on Fractalus! and The Secret of Monkey Island.

Following its rebrand to LucasArts in 1990, the company continued to develop more adventure classics – such as Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle – plus a slew of variable quality Star Wars titles. The company was finally shuttered in 2013, following Disney’s acquisition of LucasFilm.

Although it’s nice to see the Lucasfilm Games make a comeback, very little will change in the immediate future. The label is effectively acting as the licensor for Lucasfilm’s properties, and Electronic Arts still holds the rights to produce Star Wars video games. However, when it comes to fedora-wearing action heroes, who knows what might happen?

New Twitter and Facebook accounts have been launched to accompany the brand’s revival. And here’s a new sizzle reel to give you the feels.


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