The Lucasfilm Games brand is back
Lucasfilm continue trying to get by on nostalgia
Disney have rebranded the Lucasfilm video games division, this time sending the Star Wars lords back to a name from 1986: Lucasfilm Games. That's the brand under which they developed games including The Secret Of Monkey Island and Loom. This seemingly is only a rebranding, mind, and they're not rebuilding the development studio. Because Disney run time on a loop, presumably they'll rebrand to LucasArts in 2025, essentially close it down in 2048, then return to Lucasfilm Games in 2056.
The official Star Wars website announced yesterday that "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." They also shared "a special sizzle reel celebrating the history of games from Lucasfilm":
That's a whole lot of Star Wars for a brand name that wasn't originally involved in Star Wars. They had become LucasArts by the time they released X-Wing, y'know, and already established themselves as a studio making games without the slightest whiff of a Klingon or photon torpedo. I don't imagine we'll see the modern Lucasfilm Games doing anything nearly as bold or creative. And no, it doesn't sound like Disney are rebuilding the development teams they gutted and closed in 2013.
"Lucasfilm's legacy in gaming stretches back decades," the Starsite said. "And with Lucasfilm and the galaxy far, far away entering a new and unprecedented phase of creativity, so will the world of Lucasfilm Games - developed in collaboration with the finest studios across the industry."
No word yet on what those future Lucasfilm Games games are. Probably just more Star Wars, innit. The latest are respectable singleplayer stabber Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the solid spaceship shooter Squadrons, and a weird Sims 4 expansion, with yet another LEGO Star Wars game coming later this year.
This sounds like merely the rebranding of a licensing division. But hey, Disney and Lucasfilm live on nostalgia, always keen to trade on post glories and tie everything back to things folks remember from when they were kids. I was disappointed to see wonderful webseries The Mandalonian establish its own space in the gaps between stories then pointlessly fall back on nostalgia-invoking characters from films. Always gotta create opportunities for new spin-offs, I guess. And my god, The Rise Of Skywalker is the biggest heap of shite I've seen in years - and I mostly subside on Hallmark Christmas films and direct-to-VHS horror movies.