I can't believe this is happening but it happened.
Visceral Games, best known for their work on Dead Space, Battlefield Hardline and Dante's Inferno has been shutdown by publisher EA and of course because of this the story-driven Star Wars title Visceral have been working on has also been greatly affected.
Today, EA released a statement concerning the closure of the studio and the future of the Star Wars title. The statement reads...
"Our industry is evolving faster and more dramatically than ever before. The games we want to play and spend time with, the experiences we want to have in those games, and the way we play…all those things are continually changing. So is the way games are made. In this fast-moving space, we are always focused on creating experiences that our players want to play…and today, that means we’re making a significant change with one of our upcoming titles.
Our Visceral studio has been developing an action-adventure title set in the Star Wars universe. In its current form, it was shaping up to be a story-based, linear adventure game. Throughout the development process, we have been testing the game concept with players, listening to the feedback about what and how they want to play, and closely tracking fundamental shifts in the marketplace. It has become clear that to deliver an experience that players will want to come back to and enjoy for a long time to come, we needed to pivot the design. We will maintain the stunning visuals, authenticity in the Star Wars universe, and focus on bringing a Star Wars story to life. Importantly, we are shifting the game to be a broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency, leaning into the capabilities of our Frostbite engine and reimagining central elements of the game to give players a Star Wars adventure of greater depth and breadth to explore.
This move leads to a few other changes:
A development team from across EA Worldwide Studios will take over development of this game, led by a team from EA Vancouver that has already been working on the project. Our Visceral studio will be ramping down and closing, and we’re in the midst of shifting as many of the team as possible to other projects and teams at EA.
Lastly, while we had originally expected this game to launch late in our fiscal year 2019, we’re now looking at a new timeframe that we will announce in the future.
Bringing new Star Wars games to life for every passionate fan out there is what drives us as creators. It’s what has inspired us to deliver the massive new Star Wars Battlefront II experience launching in just a few weeks. It fuels our live service in Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes. Making games in the extraordinary Star Wars universe is truly a dream for so many of us at EA, and we have so many more experiences to come for players on every platform. We want to take the time to get each game right, to make it unique, to make it amazing.
We look forward to answering more of your questions, and sharing more on our plans and timeline for this new Star Wars experience, in the months to come"
Very little was known of the Visceral Star Wars title, we got a shimmering glimpse at the game way back in E3 2016 and we know that a few major names in the industry are working on the project. One of these being Amy Hennig who worked on the Uncharted series. It's currently unknown if Hennig will continue as director of the project as an email with an EA-spokesperson stated the publisher is "in discussion with Amy about her next move."
As stated up above, Visceral Games were going for a more liner-storytelling experience with this Star Wars title. It seems that EA will have to change this direction if they want to gain the "broader experience" that they want with this game.
It also appears that EA will be pushing out the release of the game, originally stated to be releasing in 2019, as they are currently "looking at a new timeframe."
It's a shame to see Visceral Games go after nineteen years in the industry but with games like the Dead Space series and others like The Godfather they've had a good run. Visceral you'll be truly missed and I personally thank you for giving me my first real video game horror experience.
The next EA Star Wars title is Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and is set to release on November 17th for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.
For all your Star Wars news...
Stick with Goin' All Gamer!
No comments:
Post a Comment