Electronic Arts has been getting a lot of flak for shutting down Visceral Games, the team behind Dead Space. The developer was working on a third-person action adventure Star Wars game with Amy Hennig (Uncharted, Legacy of Kain) as the co-writer, but that has changed since EA wanted to focus on making the game last longer for gamers. (Pretty much using the “game as a service” model.) EA executive vice president Patrick Söderlund made the announcement this week that the game will have big changes on its way.
Visceral’s Star Wars game has been in the works for a few years now, and fans got a taste of the in-game footage that looked very promising. With Hennig attached, there were fans hoping for Uncharted in the Star Wars universe.
“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,” said Söderlund. “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.”
The game estimated to launch sometime in 2018 or 2019, but now it will be delayed. Visceral will be no more, with EA using its other studios to tackle the project. What does this mean for the employees at Visceral? Well, EA is hoping to move as many employees as possible to other teams or projects.
“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,” said Söderlund. “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.”
Check out some reactions from different people below.
I'm gonna say it: Visceral was quashed because they were developing a story-based single-player game, rather than a 'games as service' game.
— Ryan Brown (@Toadsanime) October 17, 2017
EA shuts down Visceral Games, this comic is always relevant http://pic.twitter.com/vxqaGAxG1N
— Ernesto (@ErneX) October 17, 2017
Saddened to hear about Visceral. The original Dead Space is one of the great games of the PS3/360 generation. Studio had a ton of talent.
— Colin Moriarty (@notaxation) October 17, 2017
The Visceral situation is saddening, disheartening, and maddening. Considering an editorial on it. For now, though: https://t.co/1nzeO6Itam
— Ryan McCaffrey (@DMC_Ryan) October 17, 2017
This is a direction that’s not going to be reversed anytime soon. Most AAA publishers are veering further into games as a service. #Visceral
— shinobi602 (@shinobi602) October 17, 2017
I’m glad they canned a single player story based Star Wars game by Visceral. I’m scared it would have been too fun
— Rocco Botte (@rocco_botte) October 17, 2017
Decided to update the EA victims list with Visceral Games. http://pic.twitter.com/pjSdHLqXxE
— Chinner (@Chinnerdomain) October 17, 2017
To mark the closure of Dead Space creator Visceral Games, I would like to highlight this detailed animation for the world’s smallest ladder http://pic.twitter.com/vyNzE1HERi
— Mark Brown (@britishgaming) October 18, 2017
Even 2K is saddened by the news.
So sorry to hear about #Visceral closing. We have lots of opportunities here, hoping perhaps we can be of help. https://t.co/oDoivyaDAB http://pic.twitter.com/nQlLDfV8ad
— 2K Jobs (@2kjobs) October 17, 2017
Injustice and Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm is also in mourning.
Truly sorry to hear the news about the closure of #visceral games. We have some great jobs available. https://t.co/8GJbxK55jP
— NetherRealm Studios (@NetherRealm) October 17, 2017
And here is Ubisoft SF showing support.
#Visceral employees, we are sorry to hear the news — we have some prime openings and might be able to help. https://t.co/KB9jOydYwy
— Ubisoft Studio SF (@UbisoftStudioSF) October 17, 2017
For now, Star Wars fans and gamers can look forward to DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront II and Titanfall’s Respawn untitled Star Wars game.
The post Visceral gets support after EA changes plan for Star Wars game appeared first on Nerd Reactor.
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