Formerly best known for churning out lame, misguided video games, LucasArts is putting some quality control in place, organizing their resources, and working towards becoming one of the top game publishers in the industry.

SAN FRANCISCO — In September 2004, Jim Ward met with the director George Lucas at his office at Skywalker Ranch near here. At the time, LucasArts, the video game company created by Mr. Lucas in 1982 and run by Mr. Ward, was in disarray. The division was making too many mediocre “Star Wars” games, it was rife with internal rivalries and it was in such lackluster financial shape that bonuses for employees were scrapped that year.

Mr. Ward, a veteran Lucasfilm marketing executive who had been named president of LucasArts only four months earlier, was there to present Mr. Lucas with a business plan, but he had a few questions of his own. Most important, did Mr. Lucas have the desire to turn LucasArts into one of the top five video game publishers? Indeed, Mr. Lucas said, he did.

“We can do this ourselves,” Mr. Ward recalled Mr. Lucas telling him. “We will put our resources behind this.”

LucasArts is not No. 5 yet. But last year it ranked No. 8 in sales, up from No. 13 a year earlier, according to the NPD Group. And, Mr. Ward, 46, is being credited with a turnaround. While No. 8 may seem low in an industry obsessed with No. 1, LucasArts got there selling a fraction of the games its competitors did.

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General, Video Games