Some industry insiders have long suspected that LucasArts may be in the process of restructuring itself. It's all official now as layoffs have been confirmed after the release of Lego Indiana Jones (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC,  PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, DS). Details after the jump.

It's always sad when someone in this industry steps down, and this is no different - as LucasArts President Jim Ward is finally hanging up his ten-year tenure at the company that brought us lightsabers and spaceships. Find out why and what's in the future for Jim Ward after the jump.

More speakers have been added to the 2008 D.I.C.E. Summit's speaker roster. Joining the roster for next year's event are PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura, who is currently working on a new music title for the Nintendo Wii, and newly-appointed Entertainment Software Association president Michael D. Gallagher. More new speakers at the full article.

Together with development partner Day 1 Studios, LucasArts hopes to redefine the next generation of games with a futuristic title so epic, it could dwarf the Death Star in scope. In an official press release just fresh out of the company famous for Star Wars, they have announced the development of a new title for the next generation gaming platforms to be released in 2008.

 

Details are sketchy at best, but what they have revealed is a futuristic shooter that sports a fully destructive environment, where every action spells global implications. The game takes players right into an epic war that rips through American soil and takes the level of futuristic combat through advanced technology and cybernetic enhancements.

"Exciting new intellectual properties serve a vital role to the growth of LucasArts," said Jim Ward, president of LucasArts. He believes the Fracture is the way to achieve that growth, by creating a compelling story with in-depth characters. He said it's everything one could expect of a LucasArts release.

Fracture introduces the player to a distant future (the year 2161), when much of the world has changed due to extreme seismic and detrimental ecological activity. On the eve of a brewing war, the player will see the destruction unfold through the eyes of demolitions expert Mason Briggs of the Atlantic Alliance.

Against the pro-cybernetic idealists, the Pacifican Army will use their principles of genetic enhancement to do combat. And players get to wage war on epic battlefields with weapons that can alter the landscape, the overall strategy, and eventually, the turn out of the battle itself. Some weapons that have been noted are:

• Vortex grenades: upon detonation, it creates a massive whirlwind of rock, dirt and debris to dispatch foes when surrounded
• Tectonic grenades: upon detonation, it shifts the ground level beneath the blast to rise up
• Rocket launcher alt-fire: fires a salvo of rockets that can effectively carve out a tunnel into the ground

Fracture will be the first to feature the technology that allows players to reshape their battles: Terrain Deformation. It is announced for a Summer 2008 release for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.