EA Closes Visceral Games, Star Wars Game to be Reworked

EA closing Visceral Games, Star Wars game to be reworked

EA has announced today they will be closing down their Visceral Games studio, the creators of the Dead Space series, Battlefield Hardline, and several licensed titles ranging from James Bond to The Godfather. The studio was currently in development on an untitled Star Wars video game with Amy Hennig (Uncharted series) directing the title. As a result of the studio shuttering, however, the game will be retooled by a different development team moving forward.

“In its current form, it was shaping up to be a story-based, linear adventure game,” Patrick Söderlund, Executive Vice President of Electronic Arts wrote in a blog post. “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.”

The game was previously announced back in 2014 and was set for a to-be-announced 2019 release date, but the changes in development will result in a new time frame for the title, which will be announced later. Moving forward, a development team made up of members from across EA Worldwide Studios will continue working on the game and will be led by a team from EA Vancouver that has already been working on the project.

You can see some previously-released concept art for the game in the gallery below.