The following response from Lucas Licensing President, Howard Roffman, was received in a response to one of the hundreds of similar e-mails sent to LFL asking "Why?" Thank you to Michael U. for writing his e-mail to LFL and passing along LL's response to us. Thank you to Mr. Roffman as well for answering the e-mail to the best of his ability.

Thank you for writing to express your feelings about our Star Wars CCG decision. That decision was my responsibility, and I would like you to have a better understanding of how the decision was made.

I have worked for Lucasfilm for 21 years. For the last 16 years, I have been in charge of all of our merchandising. I have stayed with the company this long because I love Star Wars, and I know that millions of people throughout the world share that love. Not every decision I have made has been right, but I can tell you that every product decision is motivated first and foremost by whether it will result in a better experience for the fans of Star Wars.

Two years ago we began a painstaking process of figuring out what to do with the Star Wars CCG when the Decipher license expired at the end of 2001. We heard extensive presentations from Decipher and Wizards of the Coast, and we talked to many, many players and retailers. We faced a very difficult decision because Decipher had done a great job with the Star Wars CCG and is a terrific company with many wonderful and talented people. Wizards is also a great company and holds a very special position as the originator of the CCG format and the creator of Magic: The Gathering. We were honored that they were interested in Star Wars and listened very carefully to what they as well as Decipher and the fans had to say. After nine months of an exhaustive process, we came to the conclusion that Wizards had a better vision for the long-term future of Star Wars. That vision encompassed an improved game that could broaden the player base by offering a multi-layered experience within a single game (as opposed to multiple games for different audiences) and would be designed by Richard Garfield himself, and an improved organized play system that would support players better than ever before.

This was a very difficult decision given the strengths of both companies, our long history with Decipher, and the considerable investment that many players had already made in the existing games. In the end, we felt we had to do what was right for the fans in the long run, knowing that our decision would not be well received by everyone. Sometimes change is hard to accept, but our experience has been that change can be a good thing, and a way of encouraging greater creativity and innovation.

Wizards has been working diligently for more than a year to produce what we all hope will be a worthy successor to the original Star Wars CCG. I am truly sorry that you are upset with this decision. All that I can ask at this point is that you reserve final judgment until you have a chance to see the product when it launches in April.

In the meantime, while Decipher will not be producing any new Star Wars products, we expect their existing games to go on, and Decipher themselves have committed to do everything in their power to continue these games for as long as the player community wants to play them.

Howard Roffman
President, Lucas Licensing

What do you think of this response? Be sure to discuss this in the CCG forum (link above).