The final attempt by LucasArts to develop an original adventure game was "", a sequel to the 1993 title "Sam & Max Hit the Road". The game was announced for Windows in 2002 as a counterpart to "Hell on Wheels". Michael Stemmle, one of the co-designers for "Sam & Max Hit the Road", was the lead designer for the project. Series creator Steve Purcell, who had left LucasArts in 1997, worked as an advisor for the development team. "Freelance Police" was displayed alongside "Hell on Wheels" at the 2003 E3 convention, where the game's trailer was revealed. Although development appeared to be proceeding smoothly, "Freelance Police" was abruptly canceled in early 2004, just a few weeks before the game's marketing campaign was about to begin. LucasArts cited "current market place realities and underlying economic considerations" as the reasons for their decision. Commentators, however, felt that the move was representative of a perceived decline in the adventure game genre, and that LucasArts was moving to maintain its position with low business risk "Star Wars"-themed titles instead of the high risk graphic adventure games that had brought success in earlier years. LucasArts subsequently dismissed many of the designers involved with developing their adventure games, and in 2006 LucasArts president Jim Ward stated that the company may return to developing adventure games in 2015, effectively ending their adventure game era.