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BREAKING NEWS! Jim Ward saw Mojo posters, had nervous breakdown, quit! 01 Feb, 2008 / Comments: 35

By Zaarin


That's right! Jim Ward, our favourite head of LucasArts, has called it quits and president of Lucas Licensing, Howard Hoffman, is taking over temporarily.

Clicky!


Mojo was, of course, already aware of this. During the beta testing of our new super-secret MindReader-o-Matic?, we dug into the brain of Jim Ward and out popped the following:

This is so typical. The minute we manage to fine tune it to his brain waves, he quits. Oh well, does anyone know the frequency to Hoffman's thoughts?

35

35 Comments

  • jp-30 on 03 Feb, 2008, 09:59…
    Paging Dr. Wolfgang Kierdorf, time to submit your resume...
  • MrSneeze on 03 Feb, 2008, 18:30…
    I think it's time The International House of Mojo gave us an insider's story of what exactly happened with Duke Wolfgang Kierdorf. All I know is that his name could very well have been Hans Christian Andersen, and then he gave up. (Don't tell me that that pretty much sums it up.)
  • Murray the Chao on 02 Feb, 2008, 12:48…
    "Together we've rebooted the company and set LucasArts on a path to even greater success."
    Right. This is the company that dissed the Freelance Police(thank goodness for Telltale!), and has seemingly no intentions to honor it's five-game contracts with Guybrush and the Voodoo Lady.
  • jp-30 on 03 Feb, 2008, 18:43…
    "Oh yeah, I totally ctrl-alt-del'd LucasArts".
  • Murray the Chao on 02 Feb, 2008, 12:34…
    "Together we've rebooted the company and set LucasArts on a path to even greater success."
    Right. This is the company that dissed the Freelance Police(thank goodness for Telltale!), and has seemingly no intentions to honor it's five-game contracts with Guybrush and the Voodoo Lady.
  • elTee on 02 Feb, 2008, 07:51…
    Jesus, did you read this line? "It's been an incredible experience. Together we've rebooted the company and set LucasArts on a path to even greater success."

    Ten years ago, when he started there, Grim Fandango was made. Ten years later, and I struggle to think of ONE good game that company has turned out. They were only even friendly until about 2002 - then they had their 20th anniversary, did a retrospective of their past, then took it offline and denied it even happened.

    So bye-bye Jim Ward, I wish you luck.
  • Udvarnoky on 02 Feb, 2008, 18:43…
    You have to give credit where it's due - he took a financially unstable company and made it stable. Now, he did it while keeping the company creatively barren, making nothing but safe decisions, and insulting the company's legacy (both with "Dukes of Hazzard and Bewitched" quote and by pretending the company's back catalogue didn't exist), but LucasArts isn't going to file for bankruptcy anytime soon. Now let's hope the new commander-in-chief resurrects the company's spirit and originality now that everything else seems to be in place.
  • MrSneeze on 02 Feb, 2008, 11:22…
    Thrillville?
  • The Tingler on 02 Feb, 2008, 11:42…
    Republic Commando.

    Then again, that's the ONLY game they've made themselves since EFMI.
  • Trunks on 02 Feb, 2008, 21:12…
    You forget such "classics" like Red Rock, Bounty Hunter, Gladius, etc. Though Gladius wasn't actually too bad.
  • Trunks on 02 Feb, 2008, 21:11…
    You forget such "classics" like Red Rock, Bounty Hunter, Gladius, etc. Though Gladius wasn't actually too bad.
  • The Tingler on 02 Feb, 2008, 23:03…
    You're the second person to do a double post! Something go wrong, guys?

    That lot were made before Ward became Prez. He joined a few months before Revenge of the Sith came out, I believe.
  • Udvarnoky on 02 Feb, 2008, 03:49…
    Hopefully the next president can focus on LucasArts full-time. As the article notes, Jim Ward was an executive at LucasFilm when he become president of LucasArts, and he maintained both positions during his tenure.
  • neon_git on 02 Feb, 2008, 01:53…
    To be president of a large company you surely have to be highly motivated and commited. To suddenly resign for "personal reasons" and not offer any other explanation has got to be a sign that something pretty bad has happened to the guy. Much as I dislike the way he ran LucasArts, he's still a human being and I hope he's OK.
  • Glo_kidd on 02 Feb, 2008, 02:08…
    True enough. While i kid around i certainly wish no illness or personal loss to the man, hopefully its one of those "time to move on" sort of things and not some huge crisis on a personal front. If it was the latter i wish him the best of luck and hope things work out for the best.
  • Glo_kidd on 02 Feb, 2008, 01:16…
    *happy dance* :P

    Well at least i can start braking when i see him cross the street now. probably came just in the nick of time too cause i saw some very suspicious looking guys setting up what appeared to be camera equipment the other day.

    (j/k of course :P i live nowhere near the man, but its a pretty vivid dream man :P)
  • hierohero on 02 Feb, 2008, 00:47…
    lets hope the new lucasarts president has respect for the lucasarts properties they created..and can perhaps work out a deal with telltale games to work on sum licenses
  • Metallus on 02 Feb, 2008, 00:41…
    Incoming President: Future-proof LucasArts adventures and re-release them on Steam/XBLA/Wii pls. I will buy them.
  • The Tingler on 02 Feb, 2008, 11:43…
    And DS for gods sake.
  • valkian on 01 Feb, 2008, 23:08…
    You read minds with Internet Explorer? that's lame! Every mind-reader knows that Firefox is the way to go. dah.
  • Thrik on 02 Feb, 2008, 00:32…
    It's the LucasArts employee using Internet Explorer, not Zaarin.
  • Ace2020boyd on 01 Feb, 2008, 22:02…
    can anyone say Monkey island 5
  • Thrik on 01 Feb, 2008, 22:06…
    Are you kidding? Jim Ward had the plans for its release in 2015 and everything! Without him we are surely doomed to never see it.
  • The Tingler on 02 Feb, 2008, 00:40…
    Come back Jim, all is forgiven!
  • The Tingler on 01 Feb, 2008, 21:46…
    "Better the devil you know". Last time we lost a LucasArts President Sam & Max got cancelled by the marketing department. Maybe Fracture will can canned this time (oh no!).
  • The Tingler on 01 Feb, 2008, 21:46…
    And no, I'm not suggesting that Fracture will be doing the can-can.
  • jp-30 on 03 Feb, 2008, 03:12…
    Indiana Jones 2007... 2008... canned?
  • The Tingler on 03 Feb, 2008, 12:04…
    Nah, that's a license. They only can original games.
  • MrSneeze on 01 Feb, 2008, 21:41…
    I doubt it was Mojo's posters. It was definitely the "letter" I wrote addressed to him, though :D (har har har).

    I'm very tempted to say "good news!", although that would sound a bit mean. Oh well, I'll just get back to the Jim Ward Good Riddance party I'm throwing. Toodles.
  • Udvarnoky on 01 Feb, 2008, 22:27…
    You sure can write a mean letter, MrSneeze.
  • Haggis on 01 Feb, 2008, 21:46…
    It was definitely the "letter" I wrote addressed to him, though

    Don't count on it, MrSneeze...
  • clone2727 on 01 Feb, 2008, 21:46…
    Good news!

    (Not mean at all :P)
  • woxel1 on 01 Feb, 2008, 21:37…
    :checks calendar:

    Sorry guys, April is two months away!
  • Scummbuddy on 03 Feb, 2008, 01:11…
    Yes, now Mojo will have to come up with an even better joke news post.
  • woxel1 on 03 Feb, 2008, 18:04…
    He comes back?