Problems at Lucasarts?

[Velorath]

Rumors of massive layoffs circulate:

Kotaku and various other gaming blogs exploded Thursday night with rumors that publisher LucasArts has laid off 50-100 employees only a few days after the release of their latest game, Lego Indiana Jones.
We've heard rumors that layoffs include team members from the nearly-complete Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and possibly Lego Star Wars and Lego Indy producer Shawn Storc. Some anonymous sources have suggested as much as 80% of the staff has been let go in certain departments.

Kotaku also reported on another anonymous letter from a supposed ex-LucasArts employee who revealed that the firings began on Wednesday and have carried on through the rest of this week. According to this letter, LucasArt's plan is to focus more heavily on outsourcing their game development, especially given a large line-up of upcoming games that are now hurting for people to work on them. Rumored unannounced LucasArts titles from this source include Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3, Star Wars: Battlefront III, and a non-Lego Indiana Jones game -- all titles that have been hinted at for a long time.

While whatever's left of LucasArts has, naturally, been unwilling or uneager to respond, 1UP was able to find comments from some former LucasArts employees in a rather unexpected place: a Facebook Group called "I Bet I Can Find 10,000 Ex-LucasArts Employees." Former LucasArts assistant producer Rob Carroll provided a long post on the group:


"I've been through some unpleasant terminations in the past, but this way by far the worst thing I've ever seen. Here's how it went down from my point of view. I got in at 8:30 and...the general talk was that of surprise and disappointment I hadn't been with the company for very long and didn't [know] them well, but some of the other people on the team were crushed to hear them leave.

"Then from over the cube wall I hear Dave [Cerra] saying his goodbyes, and the rumor starts spreading fast that this was the day. After that it was one of the most heart-wrenching days I've ever had at a job. No one had any information on what was going on, only that there were two blond women walking around grabbing people from a list, and then you were gone. Escorted out of the build with whatever you could carry. There were a lot of tears and a lot of fear; I could not think of a suckier way they could have done this short of just deactivating our badges the night before.

"The real kicker was sitting in a conference room with Darrell two days earlier and listening to him talk about the importance of people and the team at LucasArts. It's sad really, I had hoped for more from him, I was wrong."

Product evaluator David Rodriguez noted on Thursday, "We're still not exactly sure who all [was laid off], but the list so far is a surprising amount of heavy lifters and senior staff." Producer Dave Cerra had perhaps the most succinct response to the events on Friday: "There are a lot of hungover people this morning."

1UP has contacted LucasArts for confirmation and further info, but we're not expecting to hear back this late in the week. As more details surface, though, we'll let you know.

[Samprimary]

I heartell that back in The Day they were cool enough to make this a sad punctuation to a marked decline.

[Trippy]

Yes, back in the day they were among the best of the best -- gameplay, production values, polish, even the quality of the manuals were all top notch.

[UnSub]

Looks like some other companies are about to pick up some known talent.

[schild]

I could make a phone call about this but LucasArts is kinda dead to me. This is not shocking in the slightest.

[Fabricated]

Wooooo Kotaku. Blech.

Sucks about LucasArts, but they haven't really put out anything amazing in a long time.

[schild]

Flagship/Hellgate Studio is hemorrhaging people also.

[Morat20]

Yes, back in the day they were among the best of the best -- gameplay, production values, polish, even the quality of the manuals were all top notch.

Dam skippy. X-wing, TIE Fighter, Secret of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango.....

Not really surprised, though. LucasArts stopped being a game company and moved more towards a games-based license management company awhile back.

[Strazos]

KotOR 3? Boooo. I don't like seeing good series sequel'ed into the ground.

[Miasma]

Hopefully the leaks will prompt them to make an official announcement.

[eldaec]

KotOR 3? Boooo. I don't like seeing good series sequel'ed into the ground.

Did you not play Kotor 2?


This series is already at least 8 feet under.

There is no more down. At this point, things can only get better.

[Venkman]

That was a different company though. Word is KOTOR3 brings it back home and as an MMO.

[schild]

That was a different company though. Word is KOTOR3 brings it back home and as an MMO.

As Darniaq, you should really know who is working on such things and what "back home" means.

[Venkman]

What, "Darniaq" is a title now? Can I bankroll that? 

Five years is a long time man, unless there's an amazing amount of consistency in the staffing in each specific division? I really don't know, and am just peddling the rumor anyway.

[Morat20]

Did you not play Kotor 2?


This series is already at least 8 feet under.

There is no more down. At this point, things can only get better.

KOTOR 2 was excellent, and story-wise head and shoulders above KOTOR. Unfortunately, it was rolled out the door six+ months early, making "getting to the story" a nightmare and getting to hear the whole story -- so that it makes sense and you get the actual thrust of it -- requires unpacking all the shipped-but-not-in-the-game stuff.

Good lord, Kreia alone was a masterpiece of a character. A Jedi Master who believed free will was the most significant and important aspect of sentience? Her entire life was a contradiction she couldn't resolve.

[schild]

What, "Darniaq" is a title now? Can I bankroll that? 

Five years is a long time man, unless there's an amazing amount of consistency in the staffing in each specific division? I really don't know, and am just peddling the rumor anyway.

Shadowbane + SW:G + Other Crap does not a successful game make.

[Ironwood]

KOTOR 2 was excellent, and story-wise head and shoulders above KOTOR. Unfortunately, it was rolled out the door six+ months early, making "getting to the story" a nightmare and getting to hear the whole story -- so that it makes sense and you get the actual thrust of it -- requires unpacking all the shipped-but-not-in-the-game stuff.

Good lord, Kreia alone was a masterpiece of a character. A Jedi Master who believed free will was the most significant and important aspect of sentience? Her entire life was a contradiction she couldn't resolve.

Imagine me looking like your Avatar after reading this.  Your post makes no sense.  KOTOR 2 was Shit shit shit specifically because it was shoved out the door early.  Did you get a '6 months later' release that I missed ?

It's like eating two carrots and saying 'This steak dinner was the best EVA'.  You didn't eat a steak dinner, Dude, you have two fucking carrots.

Also, the characterisation in 2 just sucked.  Sorry, it did.  They were all frigging cutouts.

[Simond]

Imagine me looking like your Avatar after reading this.  Your post makes no sense.  KOTOR 2 was Shit shit shit specifically because it was shoved out the door early.  Did you get a '6 months later' release that I missed ?]

http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/KOTOR%202/
http://www.team-gizka.org/index.html
 

Also, the characterisation in 2 just sucked.  Sorry, it did.  They were all frigging cutouts.

Read the Let's Play. KOTOR2, if it had been finished, would have been remembered in a similar vein as Planescape: Torment.

[Miasma]

KotOR 2 only sucked in comparison to the original.  Compared to the vast majority of other games it was still really great and worth playing.

[Mosesandstick]

I second the people who say KOTOR 2 would've been a better game if it had been finished. The story and the characters just seemed more nuanced to me, apart from at the end of the game where nothing really made sense.

[Stormwaltz]

I second the people who say KOTOR 2 would've been a better game if it had been finished.

My opinion, as someone who played KotOR but did NOT work on it, is that the first game was a solid pulp adventure story, not unlike the Zahn novels. KotOR2 strove to be literature. Like all art, you can't rush literature to meet a deadline.

I still admire the effort.

[Teleku]

Also going to chip in with the support for KOTOR 2.  I thought it was a better game in every aspect (they improved on everything), except for the rushed plot that fucked it all to hell and gone at the end.

[Rasix]

Also going to chip in with the support for KOTOR 2.  I thought it was a better game in every aspect (they improved on everything), except for the rushed plot that fucked it all to hell and gone at the end.

There were just so many dropped subplots. That really, really bothered me, even more than the hackjob finish, although they could be considered one and the same.  One other aspect of the game that I didn't like was that I  had a couple of crashbugs that forced me to save compulsively.  I never had a game crash my Xbox until then.

Finished and polished it would have been the Fallout 2 to Fallout 1^*.  A solid refinement to the original formula that ends up being a better overall game (subject to opinion).  I  thuroughly enjoyed the game until I realized it was ending and in a fashion that made me want to hurt someone.

^*I do realize the irony in using a Fallout game in the same sentence as "finished" and "polished".

[Paelos]

Apparently Team Gizka has the restoration project for KOTOR 2 down to 20+ bugs left before they release the public build. If they get that done this summer, I'll be cracking it out again.

[Montague]

Apparently Team Gizka has the restoration project for KOTOR 2 down to 20+ bugs left before they release the public build. If they get that done this summer, I'll be cracking it out again.

That bug list has been at 20 for the last six months, just FYI.

[Azazel]

nod. I figure I'll have lost interest in playing through KOTOR2 by the time it gets done.

[Paelos]

Apparently Team Gizka has the restoration project for KOTOR 2 down to 20+ bugs left before they release the public build. If they get that done this summer, I'll be cracking it out again.

That bug list has been at 20 for the last six months, just FYI.

Well that's not cool. I had assumed they were actually going to finish the thing.

[Azazel]

Yeah, great that they're doing (have done) all that work for little reward and such, but it just seems really odd that they've gotten to the point of almost done and....


Tracking 985 known issues
Severity: Open: Resolved:
Block       0           5
Crash       0           8
Major       1         79
Minor       7       247
Tweak     3       158
Text       6        157
Trivial      6        196
Feature  11       101

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Total      23       850


Clearly some of those have to fall into multple categories, but you'd hope the tweaks and text stuff would hopefully be easy enough to knock out.

[Morat20]

Yeah, great that they're doing (have done) all that work for little reward and such, but it just seems really odd that they've gotten to the point of almost done and....


Tracking 985 known issues
Severity: Open: Resolved:
Block       0           5
Crash       0           8
Major       1         79
Minor       7       247
Tweak     3       158
Text       6        157
Trivial      6        196
Feature  11       101

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Total      23       850


Clearly some of those have to fall into multple categories, but you'd hope the tweaks and text stuff would hopefully be easy enough to knock out.

I know their launch goal is "no bugs more severe than feature". Judging from their forums and the like, the real hold up is having their very few beta testers (they kept the numbers low and only for people who could do it properly) validate each build and do the stress the shit out of it thing.

Plus, I'd suspect many of the folks working on it are the sort that have the most free time during the summer....

I don't think they update their build page unless they're update their build for release to beta testers, so who knows how many of those are still there?

[Murgos]

Often, complete showstopper bugs can be put off until the end of a cycle.  It's not unheard of for the last 10% or so to take as much time/effort as everything up to that point.

[Azazel]

Agreed. What makes me wonder is the 6 "text" issues.

[Ironwood]

You know what ?  People saying 'If it had been finished it would have been wondrous' bug the almighty fuck outta me.

STUPID.


Striving and failing, though admirable, is still a failure.

[Furiously]

I still think they are just pretending to be doing it, hoping they get job offers.

[Azazel]

Wouldn't you know, finishing it, be more useful for the job offers? 

[Morat20]

You know what ?  People saying 'If it had been finished it would have been wondrous' bug the almighty fuck outta me.

STUPID.


Striving and failing, though admirable, is still a failure.

I thought I had been clear, but I was speaking entirely of story and characterization, which was great until...the last 15% of the game where it was abandonded and left in ruins in order to finish the game.

So I went out and found out what that last 15% was supposed to be, so I did get the whole story -- despite LucasArt's best attempts to stop me. :)

Gameplay -- bugs aside, it was KOTOR with some minor upgrades. Nothing big. Story-wise, it make KOTOR look like a child's story. I swear, it seems like a good chunk of the plot was them reexamining KOTOR's plot and placing it in a far more sophisticated light.

Other than the showdown at the Jedi Enclave, I suspect my favorite part of the game is Kreia's reactions when you choose to give money to/threaten a beggar.