Id also disagree with von Ether that WEG's demise had nothing to do with rpgs.
They paid a LOT for the star wars license, and once interest died down a little, even a little, after the trilogy was done, they began to get into more and more financial trouble.
Not *all* related to star wars, but certainly tied in.
Keep in mind before the new trilogy interest had waned. The Marvel comic had gone to Dark Horse. Marvel had cancelled the comic because, after paying for the license, there wasnt enough money left for THEM.
As the viacom lawsuit has shown, (over the star trek license), the production of new movies GREATLY impacts the profitability of licensed materials.
Chuck