LucasArts confirmed today a major restructuring of its development studio. It marks the first change within the company since Jim Ward took over as president in May. "Since joining LucasArts in early May, I've taken a hard, critical look at our business. I've come to the conclusion that to make LucasArts thrive and to position ourselves for the long-term future, we need to make some fundamental changes."

Today Ward named Peter Hirschmann Vice President of Product Development, who will oversee both internal and external development. Hirschmann has been with LucasArts for two years and has been involved with such titles as Secret Weapons Over Normandy and the upcoming games Star Wars Battlefront and Mercenaries. Hirschmann was previously with Electronic Arts where he launched and oversaw the Medal of Honor series. As a result of the restructuring, 31 people from the development studio were laid off as the company will be concentrating on fewer titles.