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Jim Ward saves LucasArts 03 Feb, 2006 / Comments: 18


Oh how we were angry when LucasArts president laid off screeds of employees, dropped all internally produced titles, cancelled bonuses and rushed games out to coordinate them with big Star Wars events such as movie and DVD releases.

But, from a financial standpoint at least, those decisions have turned out to be a godsend for the formerly struggling Lucas division. The San Francisco Business Times reports;
The San Franicisco-based video game unit of Lucasfilm produced record-breaking sales last year, generating praise for Jim Ward, who became president in May 2004 and immediately retooled the formerly flagging company.

LucasArts had long been criticized for relying on overused "Star Wars" material for its games, but 2005 turned out to be stellar time for any game based on the sci-fi franchise. "Star Wars" titles accounted for four of the five top-selling Hollywood-licensed games in North America last year, according to industry tracker NPD Group. The same four titles were the only movie-based games to push into the overall top 10.
So, with all that money rolling in, it must be a good time to finally get cracking on Monkey Island 5. Right? Right?

Source: San Francisco Business Times

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