Disney acquires Lucasfilm, everything Star Wars

George Lucas sold off Lucasfilm to Disney, the house of mouse announced earlier today.

The acquisition cost $4.05 billion and includes LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound. This means that Disney now owns everything Star Wars, Indiana Jones, THX 1138, and I suppose American Graffiti too.

"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," said George Lucas. "It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime."

The announcement also revealed that new Star Wars films are in the works, with the next one tentatively scheduled for 2015. George Lucas will stay on as a consultant, while new Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy will be an executive producer.

"I'm confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come," Lucas added.

This isn't the first time the two companies have collaborated. Most notably Disney theme parks have featured Star Wars and Indiana Jones attractions for decades. Disneyland even updated its Star Tours ride last year to be in 3D and focus on the prequels.

But how will this affect Lucas' legacy in games?

We asked LucasArts about this and its official reply was, "For the time being all projects are business as usual. We are excited about all the possibilities that Disney brings."

When we asked EA how this would affect The Old Republic and BioWare I was told "we're not in a position to comment at this point." Phooey.

During an investor conference call Disney CEO Robert Iger said, "We're likely to focus more on social and mobile than we are on console." This isn't to say the company won't have major releases like Star Wars 1313, but we may be getting more titles along the lines of Angry Birds Star Wars.

Disney has had some videogames successes under its belt recently with the likes of Epic Mickey and Split/Second, though the developer of the latter, Black Rock Studio, was shuttered last year.

On the plus side, we could potentially start seeing some Samuel L. Jackson in our Kingdom Hearts if we're lucky.