BREAKING: Disney Shuts Down LucasArts; 150 Staffers Laid Off

The shake-out from Disney’s $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm continues. This morning, Disney shut down LucasArts, the 31-year-old gaming division of Lucasfilm. They gutted the whole division with approximately 150 employees losing their jobs.

The official statement from Disney:

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

The layoffs follow on the heels of the dozens of Lucasfilm Animation employees who were laid off after the cancellation of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The only question that remains is what inspiring piece of photography this Lucasfilm exec will post on his Tumblr to commemorate the shut down.

For commentary on the LucasArts shuttering, here’s a perspective from GameInformer.com.