When Disney announced their acquisition of LucasFilm last October, one of the first thoughts to cross the minds of gamers was “Uh, what does this mean for Star Wars 1313?”. The game had not been seen or heard from since its debut at E3 2012, which in itself was not all that worrisome because newly announced IP often enters into a media black out period — especially when it is suspected of being developed for unannounced next-gen consoles. With that said, new owners often bring about unexpected changes, so it was an entirely reasonable question to ask.
At the time LucasArts somewhat calmed those fears by saying that all of their current projects were “business as usual“, however, they also prefaced that claim with the words “for the time being”. If a new report is to be believed, the worst possible outcome from that carefully worded statement has come to pass.
Citing “three unrelated sources familiar with game development at LucasArts”, Kotaku is reporting that Star Wars 1313 has been put on hold because it does not directly tie into the newly announced movies.
According to the report, Star Wars 1313 had already been revised several times before the Disney acquisition. The game was originally planned to be an open-world RPG, similar to Knights of the Old Republic, that tackled themes such as; crime, terrorism, families, and prostitution. This initial plan, which was said to tie into the TV series that was being developed at the time, was overhauled in 2010 and changed into the game we all saw at last year’s E3.
Then the Disney acquisition of LucasFilm happened.
Apparently, the house of Mickey Mouse is not all that interested in pushing any products that are not directly associated with the upcoming JJ Abrams Star Wars movie. Additionally, the company’s well-known stance on not wanting to pursue future triple-A console game development (which contributed to the recent closure of Junction Point) is adding fuel to the Star Wars 1313‘s rumor.
For the record, LucasArts has officially denied that Star Wars 1313 has been canceled, stating that the game “continues production”.
At this point, Star Wars 1313‘s “on hold” status should be considered a rumor. As soon as any official information is released either way we will let you know.
