Visceral, The Developers Of Dead Space And The New Star Wars Action Game, Is Closing Down

Visceral, the studio famous for its survival horror series Dead Space, is no more. Publishers EA has announced that the team, which were working on an action adventure Star Wars game with former writer of the Uncharted series Amy Hennig, will be “ramping down and closing”.

Development of the game, yet untitled despite being mentioned in various E3 conferences, will now transfer to EA Worldwide Studios, led by EA Vancouver.

Patrick Söderlund, Executive Vice President of EA, has explained that the Star Wars project is undergoing some big changes.

“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.”

It’s all very vague, but it seems that the linear, single-player game may not be in line with what the publisher believed to be the trend in gaming they should pursue.

Visceral’s last Dead Space game, Dead Space 3, ushered in micro-transactions in single-player games, which proved to be unpopular, and their next game afterward, Battlefield Hardline, was mostly decent. Visceral joins the long line-up studios closed by EA including Bullfrog, Westwood Studios, Origin Systems, Pandemic, Mythic and the main team at Maxis.

We wish the best for those affected.

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