LucasArts, I Find Your Lack of Employees… Disturbing
Despite Lucasfilms’ epic blockbusters, LucasArts has been an epic failure of late. Like their beloved Indiana Jones, LucasArts’ jobs have begun to leave the U.S. and travel to places like India in hopes of “fortune and glory.” Unlike good old Indie, however, these jobs aren’t going global for a noble cause. LucasArts decided to lay off about 100 of their employees in favor of outsourcing this month, proving that all the LEGO games in the world couldn’t save them from suffering the same fate as so many other companies in recent history.
For those of you who find this disconcerting, never fear. This is just a nice brisk jog for the business, as it were. Newsflash, everyone: layoffs are a way to keep a company “healthy,” according to LucasArts spokeswoman Margaret Grohne. “We have a good slate of games and we have some good stuff going on in production.” But, Margaret, do we have a fiber of good conscience? Doubtful. She also insists that this is part of their products’ “life cycles.” If layoffs are healthy and a natural part of a company’s “life,” then I guess the U.S. is in great shape after all. Thanks for clarifying!
I think somebody’s in denial. Sure, everyone seems to love seeing all of their favorite Star Wars characters LEGO-ized, but one can only chew the cud of Lucas’s intellectual property for so long before it becomes bland. Even LucasArts themselves realized that that their over-reliance on the Star Wars franchise was affecting the quality of their games: in 2004, George Lucas and recently departed LucasArts president Jim Ward agreed that their scope needed some broadening, but their plans unfortunately never came to fruition. Yes, LucasArts is doing what works for them right now, but how long can they maintain success with the same formula? It’s no wonder they’re letting so much of their creative staff go, since their games require such little creativity these days.
This is not to say that LucasArts runs any risk of going bankrupt any time soon; quite the contrary, says analyst Michael Pachter, claiming that since “George has more money than God,” they should be pretty safe for a while. So why the layoffs then? It’s as simple as this: everyone wants more money, especially the ones that already have tons of it. Outsourcing is cheaper, and they seem more concerned about capitalizing on Lucas’s intellectual property at this point than keeping a quality team around to develop something fresh. Although their games are doing fairly well, I can’t help but feel they’d have more of a fan base and greater sustainability with a wider variety of titles, and in the long run, this was a poor decision on their part.
LucasArts isn’t necessarily failing as a company, but they’re definitely failing as ethical employers. The Force isn’t strong with this one, guys.
