Visceral Games, the developer studio behind some of the most memorable games like Battlefield Hardline and Dead Space has been shut down by EA, its parent company. Following these events EA said that the Star Wars project which was being developed by Visceral games will undergo some major revamps. The game will be further improved and be shifted to a different studio, as announced by EA executive Vice-President Patrick Söderlund.
Visceral studio was developing an action-adventure game pertaining to the Star Wars universe since 2013, when Disney and EA declared their multi-year game deal. It was described that the style of the Star wars game will be quite similar to the style of the Naughty dog’s Uncharted series, but with significant change to the title.
Söderlund quoted “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.”
Söderlund went on to say that Visceral will be “ramping down and closing” and that they’re in the midst of shifting as much of the team as possible to various other projects and teams at EA. “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. But he promised that this sudden decision will not bring down the quality of the game as they will shift the game to a much comprehensive experience that allows for more variety and player agency and will build a Star Wars adventure of greater depth and breadth for the players to explore.” he further said.
As a result of the sudden shift there has been a delay in the launch date of the game. It was to be released on EA’s 2019 fiscal year, but now it has been pushed back indefinitely.
The decision was a big blow for Uncharted director Amy Hennig, who joined Visceral to direct this upcoming Star Wars game after she left Naughty Dog in early 2014. But talks are going on with Amy about her next move.
EA’s next Star Wars title hits in November. DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 is undergoing development for PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One.
While many people are unhappy with the decision, there are some who feel that this step will bear good fruits for the EA’s future and for the upcoming Star Wars project.
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