Game Industry
Now Reading
Dead Space Developer Visceral Games Shuts Down; Upcoming Star Wars Game Delayed
0
Review

Dead Space Developer Visceral Games Shuts Down; Upcoming Star Wars Game Delayed

by October 19, 2017
Pokde Scoreboard
Pokde Rating
Value
5.0
Gameplay
5.0
Visuals
5.0
Replayability
5.0
Storyline
5.0
5.0
Pokde Rating
You have rated this
What's your reaction?
Me Gusta
0%
WOW
0%
Potato
0%
Sad Reacc
0%
Angery
0%

Electronic Arts has officially announced that developer Visceral Games will be ramping down & closing. This will affect the development of a Star Wars game.

 

Dead Space Developer Visceral Games Shuts Down

Visceral Games Shut down EA

Electronic Arts has officially announced that Dead Space series developer Visceral Games “will be ramping down and closing” following a fundamental change in the development of the Star Wars game directed by Uncharted veteran Amy Hennig.

Executive Vice President, Patrick Söderlund, explained that the game, which was shaping up as “a story-based, linear adventure game” was tested internally, and the company decided that it needed a change of direction.

It will retain “the stunning visuals, authenticity in the Star Wars universe, and focus on bringing a Star Wars story to life,” but the overall design will be changed to a “broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency” taking advantage of Frostbite engine. Central elements will be recreated “to give players a Star Wars adventure of greater depth and breadth to explore.”

While Söderlund doesn’t say it explicitly, that sounds like a shift towards an open world design, even if we’ll have to wait and see.

Development will be taken over by another Electronic Arts studio, under the leadership of EA Vancouver, that has already been working on the project. The publisher is also working on moving as many Visceral developers as possible to other studios and projects.

Last, but not least, the game was supposed to launch in the fiscal year 2019 (between April 1st, 2018 and March 31st, 2019), but Electronic Arts is now “looking at a new timeframe” that will be announced down the line. At the moment, it is unclear whether Amy Hennig will still be helming the project.

Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores) was founded in 1998. During its nearly twenty years of history, it developed quite a few well-known games like the Dead Space series, Dante’s Inferno, and Battlefield Hardline.

 

Pokdepinion: It’s sad to see Visceral Games go down but more importantly, I hope the developers will be able to find a new place to call “home”.

About The Author
Aiman Maulana
Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one. YouTuber, video editor, tech head, and a wizard of gaming. What's up? :)

Leave a Response