Knights of the Old Republic 3 stalled by LucasArts lay-offs
Publisher LucasArts has laid off a further 31 staff from its development division, with reports indicating that the staff affected were a small team attached to early development on Knights of the Old Republic 3.
Publisher LucasArts has laid off a further 31 staff from its development division, with reports indicating that the staff affected were a small team attached to early development on Knights of the Old Republic 3.
A report on US website GameSpot made the link between the layoffs and the KOTOR3 team - although LucasArts itself described the move only as "a major restructuring" of its development studio. The Californian firm had not yet announced the existence of a third instalment for the KOTOR series.
The developer issued a statement revealing that as a result of the restructuring effort, "31 people from the development studio were laid off as the company will be concentrating on fewer titles." Some reports suggest that all but one of the developer's internal projects have been canned.
LucasArts has yet to confirm that, although many of its key games are now in the hands of external firms - such as the new Star Wars Episode III title, which is being composed by Indiana Jones And The Emperor's Tomb developer The Collective.
Predictably, the company was unwilling to focus on the issue in any detail. Its Friday statement was actually built around the appointment of a new vice president of product development - Peter Hirschmann, a two-year veteran at the company and former architect of EA's Medal of Honor series.
However, this isn't the first time in recent months that LucasArts has been in trouble. Back in April the company laid off 29 staff, and in mid July a leaked memo allegedly from president Jim Ward announced to staff that there would be no bonuses for the current year.