Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has confirmed that celebrated developer BioWare is at work on a MMO based on the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic franchise.

"We've got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development," Riccitiello told Portfolio.com. "The one that people are dying for us to talk to them about -- in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to telling you about it."

When asked pointedly if the game he was referring to was the oft-rumored Knights of the Old Republic MMO, the CEO simply responded "Yes."

BioWare has made several mentions of its in-development MMO project, but has remained characteristically silent on which, if any, property it would license for the title.

Earlier this year, however, BioWare and LucasArts announced that they had partnered for an unspecified project, leading many to speculate that the Star Wars MMO was indeed in development.

No release date or platforms have yet been revealed for the long-in-development MMO. A PC version is likely, though BioWare has made several comments indicating that it may be considering a console release as well.

LucasArts doesn't have a very big lineup, but here are screenshots from Fracture, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels & Jedi Alliance.

Fracture (X360) Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Jedi Alliance (DS) Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels (Wii) ... Read more

Two new Star Wars games inspired by the upcoming Clone Wars film and TV series are slated to hit Wii and Nintendo DS, publisher LucasArts has announced.

The Wii entry, titled Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels, features motion-controlled combat. "It's not a Lightsaber simulator, but when you swing your Wii remote left to right; your character does the same," producer Ken Fox told IGN.

Word of the project comes shortly after a supposed ex-LucasArts employee claimed a Wii lightsaber title was in the works, along with oft-speculated Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO.

Handled by independent developer Krome Studios, Lightsaber Duels... Read more

Update 2: Speaking with Shacknews, LucasArts representative Margaret Grohne reaffirmed the company's commitment to its internal studio and noted that the studio is continuing to work on the next Indiana Jones game in addition to The Force Unleashed.

"We're committed to our internal studio," she said. "We're working on the next Indiana Jones game internally." When asked if this commitment extends to future efforts, Grohne responded, "I'm not going to comment on projects we have not announced."

As to whether LucasArts will begin focusing more on externally-developed projects, Grohne noted, "We've always had a good balance between the internal studio and working with external partners. Expect that to continue."

Update: When reached for comment, a LucasArts representative only told Shacknews: "LucasArts is committed to the internal studio."

The company did not address the subject of more layoffs or the outsourcing of future projects, which could theoretically leave the publisher as a "think tank" that contracts external developers to expand on internal concepts and design documents.

Original Story: Following word of routine terminations at developer LucasArts, a reliable source has informed Shacknews that the company plans to cease internal development and fire roughly 100 more employees after the completion of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

LucasArts is known to have at least one other title, an Indiana Jones... Read more

Update: A LucasArts spokeswoman has confirmed the reports of layoffs, noting that the workforce reduction is not indicative of troubled times at the company.

"I can confirm we had layoffs yesterday they were in the studio," LucasArts public relations director Margaret Grohne told Kotaku. "They had to do with where we are in our product life cycles."

"We are healthy," she added. "We have a good slate of games and we have some good stuff going on in production. We are definitely committed to the internal studio."

Original Story: While LucasArts has yet to officially comment on the matter, rumors are circulating that the developer has laid off a significant number of its employees.

According to Kotaku, up to 100 staffers are rumored to have been laid off, including LEGO Star Wars and Indiana Jones producer Shawn Storc, product development VP Peter Hirschmann and many from the quality assurance, art, programming, and development departments.

A separate tipster, said to be an ex-employee, today claimed the rumored Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO, Star Wars: Battlefront 3... Read more

The Entertainment Software Association today confirmed that publisher LucasArts is no longer a member of the organization, Joystiq reports.

The company joins Activision and Vivendi as the latest company to break from the ESA, a group dedicated to the business and public affairs needs of game developers and publishers.

Unlike those companies—along with id Software, NCsoft and others—LucasArts will still be participating in the coming E3 Media and Business Summit this July, where it will showcase its upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed among other titles.

"We can confirm that LucasArts is no longer a member of the ESA," said LucasArts PR director Margaret Grohne. "As a company we are still committed to bringing consumers the best interactive experience possible and support the ESA's mission in the industry."

The ESA's statement on LucasArts' departure was similarly light on details. "We value each member of our association, but respect the unique factors that led to LucasArts' decision," said ESA communications VP Rich Taylor.

Electronic Arts LA operating chief Darrell Rodriguez has been appointed president of LucasArts, the company announced today.

The announcement follows the early February resignation of former LucasArts president Jim Ward, who cited personal reasons for his departure from the company. President of Lucas Licensing Howard Roffman served as interim president.

Prior to Electronic Arts, Rodriguez served in positions at EarthLink and the Walt Disney Internet Group. His resume includes titles such as The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II (PC, X360) and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (PC, X360).

Rodriguez will take up his position at LucasArts in mid-April.

Former LucasArts designer Mike Stemmle has joined ranks with Telltale Games, the studio announced today.

Stemmle had previously worked as a co-designer on LucasArts' PC adventure titles Sam & Max Hit the Road and Escape From Monkey Island, as well as lead designer on the infamously cancelled revamp Sam & Max: Freelance Police.

"Mere words are proving woefully inadequate to describe my delight at hooking up with this fiendishly dedicated crew," said Stemmle. "The excitement and talent swirling around Telltale remind me of the geysers of imagination that erupted across the gaming industry in the early 90's. Only this time, with rational production schedules."

Telltale Games is currently working on the second season of its episodic Sam & Max adventure series. The studio has nearly doubled the size of its workforce over the last year in anticipation of several new projects.

Update: Electronic Arts has clarified has that a new KOTOR title is not necessarily in development at this time, with the slide merely describing "past portfolio releases and the pedigree of the studio."

Original Story: A new Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game may be in development at BioWare, and it may have nothing to do with the studio's still-unnamed MMO.

During an analyst meeting, a slide presented by EA CEO John Riccitiello credited BioWare with the following projects: Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KOTOR, New MMO. Though Riccitiello did not specifically mention KOTOR in the audio portion of his presentation, it was suggested that all properties on that slide denoted new or upcoming releases.

The separate listings of KOTOR and the unnamed MMO indicate that they are not one and the same, as rumors had previously suggested. However, it is still quite possible that the MMO could be related to Star Wars.

In addition to the recently unveiled PC version of Mass Effect, BioWare is known to be working on the second title in the Mass Effect trilogy. The company's long-awaited return to PC role-playing, Dragon Age, is slated to arrive within studio owner EA's coming fiscal year, which runs April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009.

BioWare developed the LucasArts-published Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on Xbox and PC, which was released in 2003 to critical and commercial success. An Obsidian-developed sequel followed, though it did not quite receive its predecessor's unanimous acclaim.

Also on GameSpot is this LEGO Indiana Jones Q&A. LucasArts producer Shawn Storc talks about gameplay differences compared to LEGO Star Wars, co-op (still not online), picking what parts of the movies to make levels of, unlockables and platform differences.

Longtime LucasArts employee and current president Jim Ward has resigned from the company and will leave his post in two weeks.

Ward cited "personal reasons" for his resignation. President of Lucas Licensing Howard Roffman will be stepping in while the company searches for a new president.

Shacknews contacted LucasArts for further information, but representatives could not comment further on Ward's resignation.

"I am so proud of all people and the work we've done together at LucasArts over the last four years," Ward wrote in an email to Kotaku, which broke the story. "It's been an incredible experience. Together we've rebooted the company and set LucasArts on a path to even greater success. This is a fantastic team and they are positioned for their best year ever."

LucasArts PR director Margaret Grohne said that Ward's departure from the company will not affect the studio's release schedule or development plans. "We have a really strong line up for 08," she said. "[Ward] is leaving us in a very good place."

Computer & Video Games and GameHelper have the latest previews of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, offering more impressions of LucasArts' upcoming action game.

GameSpot, IGN and Team Xbox have new previews of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, checking out a preview build at LucasArts.

Update: Developer Telltale Games was unable to confirm that a Wii edition of Sam & Max is in the works, though the company promises it is "actively pursuing" the possibility.

"While it's no secret that we want to bring Sam & Max to the Wii--and it is something we're actively pursuing--we don't have any official news right now," a company representative informed Shacknews. "When we're in a position to confirm that we'll be porting Sam & Max to the Wii, we'll make an announcement about it."

Original Story: Telltale Games' episodic point-and-click adventure series Sam & Max will soon appear on the Wii, according to publisher JoWooD.

A German press release issued by the company lists a Wii edition of Telltale's Sam & Max as one of its upcoming titles, further identifying the series as receiving the "Adventure of the Year" award from readers of foreign magazine PC Games.

JoWooD, which previously expressed its intent to pursue more console titles, published the retail version of Sam & Max: Season One ... Read more

Update: Namco Bandai has released a trailer of Yoda and Darth Vader's in-game antics.

Original Story: Star Wars icons Darth Vader and Yoda are officially playable characters in Project Soul's Soul Calibur IV, with Darth Vader exclusive to the PlayStation 3 edition and Yoda exclusive to the Xbox 360 version. Yes, really.

Publisher Namco Bandai announced the news today and then proved it true by releasing pictures of the two squaring off against the ever-unbalanced Tira and the well-endowed Taki, both of whom are returning characters.

Even more inexplicable than the appearance of Darth Vader and Yoda in the fantasy-oriented historic fighting game is the suggestion that the primitive weaponry and armor of the other participants is somehow able to block lightsabers.

It's the first time the Star Wars crew has dabbled in the fighting genre... Read more

Ron Gilbert, the creator of many beloved old-school LucasArts adventure games including Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island, has announced his new project: DeathSpank, an episodic RPG-adventure said to mix Monkey Island and Diablo.

Canadian developer Hothead Games, the company behind the upcoming Penny-Arcade episodic RPG series, will be publishing the series, with former advisor Gilbert now joining the studio as its creative director.

Hothead writes that the games will follow "the thong-tastic adventures of a misguided hero named DeathSpank," who has previously been featured in animated comics on Gilbert's Grumpy Gamer blog.

"I've spent over four years trying to find the right publisher for this strange little game," said Gilbert. "Now that I've done it, you just know that somewhere four horsemen are saddling up."

Neither party provided an estimate as to when the first episode, DeathSpank: Episode One: Orphans of Justice, would arrive, though a sole piece of artwork was released.

Header Image: Dan Lee/Idle Thumbs

There's a Q&A with Sam & Max designer Steve Purcell on Adventure Classic Gaming. Purcell is asked about the history of the two characters, LucasArts' cancellation of Sam & Max Freelance Police and working with Telltale Games among other things.

Perpetual Entertainment has released the first in-game screenshot of its upcoming PC MMO Star Trek Online, highlighting the game's context-sensitive interaction system.

"In a nutshell, the Interaction System controls every non-combat, player-to-NPC interaction in the game," wrote Perpetual's Mike Stemmle. Formerly of LucasArts, Stemmle is credited as a co-designer on LucasArts' cult-classic PC adventure Sam & Max: Hit The Road and was the project lead on the company's heaven-hell management sim Afterlife (PC).

"If you want to talk to a Ferengi shopkeeper, it goes through the Interaction System," he elaborated. "Need to get some additional phaser training at the local Starfleet Academy? That's the Interaction System. Want to beam down to a planet? Interaction System. Responding to a distress call from a crippled starship? That's the Interaction System, too."

In the update, Stemmle did not comment on recent reports that Perpetual is pursuing a "more casual" direction with Star Trek Online due to new management, which has allegedly resulted in a few voluntary resignations within the company.

ZeniMax Online, the recently established online wing of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media, today announced it has licensed Simutronics' HeroEngine for use in its upcoming MMO.

The HeroEngine is a 3D engine and server technology platform originally developed for use in Simutronics' MMORPG Hero's Journey. BioWare Austin licensed the engine in 2006 for use in its own MMO collaboration with LucasArts.

Formed in August, ZeniMax Online is lead by Mythic co-founder Matt Firor. Details of the company's upcoming game have yet to be announced, though Bethesda's Elder Scrolls franchise is a likely candidate for MMO adaptation. ZeniMax secured $300 million in development funding earlier this month.

Growing publisher and developer Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will acquire TT Games, pending the standard regulatory approval for such a move.

TT Games encompasses developer Travellers' Tales, best known for its work on the LEGO Star Wars series, and TT Games Publishing. The company, which holds the worldwide rights for LEGO video games, is currently working on LEGO-themed renditions of Indiana Jones and Batman, both of which are slated to arrive in 2008. The latest release from Travellers' Tales, LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (PS3, X360, Wii, DS), arrived in stores yesterday.

The planned acquisition of TT Games coincides with WBHE's aspirations to become a major force in the video game market. "We're in this for the long haul," senior VP of worldwide sales Ron Scott said earlier this year. "We are not just an arm of a business that is simply going to leverage the movie properties that Warner has--we are going to be a creative force as well."

"TT Games will become the cornerstone of our Home Entertainment... Read more