I have little time to play video games lately but I never miss reading an issue of GameInformer, by far, the best video game magazine still available to hold in your hands and flip the pages. In the February 2014 issue, an article appeared that described the downfall of LucasArts, for a time, one of the most innovative and exciting video game studios in the industry.
You can read the article here: Fall Of The Empire: How Inner Turmoil Brought Down LucasArts
What caught my eye, besides the near complete disfunction of the organization’s management were the accounts of various meetings George Lucas had with the staff and development teams. Lucas seemingly had to give approval on any game concept that went into production but even after that, he would randomly hold meetings to review the games process.
What’s clear is that Lucas did not understand the day-to-day pressures nor the complexity of creating an innovative video game. I think the real issue here is that Lucas forgot the basics of storytelling as he had become so deeply wrapped up in his Star Wars universe, he lost the great vision he once had. It took on a life of its own and his own creation seems to have left him behind as it grew beyond.
Quoting from the article, one story told of how Lucas would make rash decisions that would effect the entire game production process:
“When Fracture was revealed to the public, its protagonist was a character named Mason Briggs. By the time the game launched, his name was changed to Jet Brody. A person who helped give this gun-toting rebel his original name recalls going through weeks of naming conventions. “Literally, whole teams sitting together, brainstorming what looks good – the first name, the last name, etc. Done, good to go.”
But then a phantom menace struck. George Lucas would periodically check in on the status of the games his company was making, lending creative input and advice. The developer I talked to sighs, and agitatedly says, “In one viewing of Fracture, [Lucas] said it looked really good, but he didn’t like [Mason Briggs’] name. We’re like, ‘What do you mean, George?’ He responded to the effect of, ‘It doesn’t really fit. When he jumps on stuff, he moves pretty fast. I like B.J. Dart.’
“So everybody’s like, ‘No, he’s gotta be f—ing with us.’ He’s absolutely not. So when something like that happened – in the middle of the campaign, mind you – we have to go back through that entire naming convention again… from scratch.” From that second session, Jet Brody was born. Coincidentally. Jett is the name of Lucas’ son.”
But this is the one that really cracked me up. I can’t imagine being in the room when this happened:
“A similar situation arose with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’s protagonist, Starkiller. “[That name] was only supposed to be a nickname or call sign, not a proper name from the beginning,” a former LucasArts employee says. The development team hoped that Lucas would give Vader’s apprentice a Darth moniker, which at the time, was something that didn’t happen often.
“The team threw a Hail Mary to George, saying the game would have more credibility if the apprentice had a ‘Darth’ title,” a Force Unleashed team member says. Lucas agreed that this situation made sense for Sith royalty, and offered up two Darth titles for the team to choose from. “He threw out ‘Darth Icky’ and ‘Darth Insanius.’ There was a pregnant pause in the room after that. People waiting for George to say ‘just kidding,’ but it never comes, and he just moved on to another point.””
Lucas wasn’t the reason that LucasArts failed. Management, a changing market, and developers unable to communicate with marketing caused the implosion but this is a cautionary tale about working in a medium you do not fully understand. Game development is a collaborative process and making rash decisions without consulting the team on the ramifications was a huge mistake.
I’ll always respect LucasArts for many of the amazing games they released during their time. The article’s worth a read if nothing else than to remember to never stop learning and to be a little more humble.