Just when you thought that the purchase of LucasFilm and LucasArts by Disney would lead to the return of space sims to the Star Wars game library, Disney pulled the rug out from under you. Star Wars: Attack Squadron was cancelled while in the midst of its closed beta.

Star Wars: Attack Squadron was announced last December by Disney. It was to be a free-to-play browser game that would see up to sixteen players do combat in locations from the film franchise.

Disney Interactive and developer Area 52 Games issued a statement about the closure last week stating:

We want to thank all of the fans who participated in the closed beta of Star Wars: Attack Squadrons.

After much consideration, we have decided to cease development so that we can focus on other Star Wars game experiences.

We truly appreciate the time you spent engaging in the beta.

Various anecdotal reviews indicated that, while the game had promise, it was never going to be as good as a browser game as it could have been as a standalone game. There were noted issues with the framerate and the freedom of movement in the game.

As someone who grew up with Tie Fighter (sorry, was never an X-Wing guy) and absolutely loved it and played it for hours on end, I’ve been looking for LucasArts to come back with proper space sim. Sure, this was never going to be X-Wing or Tie Fighter but it surely couldn’t have been worse than Jedi Starfighter. Maybe Battlefront will scratch the space combat itch, maybe it won’t. I just hope that Disney Interactive looks at the new trilogy and sees dollar signs in a space sim eventually.

Source: Game Informer