The closure of LucasArts as a video games developer this week hit many right between the eyes. None staggered harder than those who worked for the company, all of whom were laid off. Gamers and fans took the news personally thanks to nostalgia, remembering the good times playing great games, or because of a keen interest in the industry. Don’t forget those whose lives truly are upended by such a death notice.
This gallery, on imgur, doesn’t forget them. It’s a reminder of the very real people who worked for that label. The images were shot by Joel Aron, and the captions are from composer Jesse Harlin.
I got a little choked up by one of the lines and, no, it wasn’t the one about commenting on rumours to Kotaku. It’s the reference to stand-up comedy. That line is, I think, for Jeff Reitman (who left the company before it closed) someone I performed with in comedy showcases years ago in the Bay Area.
I can remember ripping the hell out of a video game in the green room of the San Francisco Comedy College, and glancing over to Jeff for approval, and not getting it. It wasn’t even a game his company made. But coming from someone who had lived through the process, the look on his face reminded me that the work I was trashing was someone’s livelihood, someone’s entire year spent on Earth, if not longer.
I see that look a lot in these 30 photographs, and they are gentle reminders to everyone here that video games are simply one more thing in this world made by people like you and me, by people who will do the best they can with all they are given, until it is taken away.
A Eulogy for LucasArts [imgur]
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