Round-Up: LucasArts Staffs Up, Return to Camelot, The Behemoth's Next Game

Today's round-up includes information on LucasArts' new plans for video game dominance, a tempting knightly offer from Mythic Entertainment, and a first look at The Behemoth's next game title, as well as the latest product news and today's Gamasutra job postings. - After seemingly winding down internal development significantly, canceling several games, including Sam & Max 2 and laying off a number of staff, LucasArts now intends to increase original game production with a greater emphasis on internal teams, according to a new article. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, LucasArts VP of Product Development Peter Hirschmann said that LucasArts would be increasing its in-house game production staff from 60-70 up to around 150, in order to reduce reliance on outside contractors. Hirschmann also intends to diversify the developer's lineup, which has become increasingly Star Wars-centric: "The plan is absolutely to broaden our interactive gaming sphere with our Indiana Jones IP, and with a number of new intellectual properties, most notably Mercenaries, which we launched in January and which is becoming a brand new franchise for us." - Mythic Entertainment is offering former Dark Age of Camelot players the opportunity to resurrect their characters and subscriptions on the PC MMO with a 10-day free period in its "Come Back to Camelot" promotion. Following in the footsteps of a similar deal offered by Final Fantasy XI, players can return to their abandoned characters just as they left them, as well as try out some of the improvements that have been made during their time away. The offer lasts until July 24, after which the 10 free days of play are no longer valid. - The Behemoth showed off its next game at the San Diego Comic-Con International, with the current working title of "The Behemoth's Next Game." The title is a follow-up to its acclaimed Alien Hominid, and is a multiplayer brawler in the vein of classic series such as Double Dragon and Final Fight, using Alien Hominid's game engine and the company's trademark cartoon-style graphics courtesy of artist Dan Paladin. More information will be forthcoming in Gamasutra's wrap-up report from the convention, to debut next week. - Also updated today: product news including information on the availability of IonForge's latest version of source control system Evolution, and the latest Gamasutra jobs from companies including Demiurge Studios, Edge of Reality, Iron Lore Entertainment, Massive Entertainment, Relic Entertainment, Retro Studios and Volition.