EA shuts down Visceral. Their Star Wars game to be revamped.

[dg1995 28]

Electronic Arts has announced that it is closing the doors of Visceral Games, the studio best known for the Dead Space series.  The developer had been working on a new Star Wars game, which will now shift directions and move to a different EA team.

"Our Visceral studio has been developing an action-adventure title set in the Star Wars universe," said Patrick Soderlund, executive VP of EA worldwide studios, in a post on EA's website. "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."
 
The untitled project will now be developed by EA Vancouver, which had already been working on the game. Soderlund says it 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 re-imagining central elements of the game to give players a Star Wars adventure of greater depth and breadth to explore."
 
Source: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-shuts-down-visceral-star-wars-action-adventure-/1100-6454142/
 
I really felt that this game is in trouble when EA didn't show anything about it this year.
 
It's funny that EA has the Star Wars license for 4 years and we still haven't got a Single Player Game. Disney shouldn't have shut down LucasArts.

[Guest]

Damn it, no DS4 then.

[Domino5555 119]

Insert Darth Vader "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO".

[LDR 234]

Damn it, no DS4 then.

Dead Space 3 wasn't really anything to cry home about honestly. Still it's a shame.

[Domino5555 119]

Battlefield Hardline might have also played a role in it, as well.

[Maphisto86 10]

Dead Space 3 wasn't really anything to cry home about honestly. Still it's a shame.

 

It was the weakest story wise but I actually still enjoyed Dead Space 3. While EA still owns the intellectual property for the series, most of the original crew have moved on to other studios. I was actually looking forward to seeing what Visceral could do with the Star Wars brand but it looks like it was not what EA wanted *cough* microtransactions *cough*.

[Mephiles550 227]

Lol, the EA blackhole continues to suck good companies away into the void. Not even Nihilus could consume and destroy as fast as EA can. Andrew Wilson should just have the title of "Darth" from now on.

[Domino5555 119]

On the bright side, no Star Wars Kinect 2.

[dg1995 28]

At least Kinect tried to be an experimental Star Wars game unlike today's EA SW games.

 

IMO the main reason that it wasn't great was because Kinect wasn't powerful enough. (Even now Kinect is completely dead)

[narshaddaarocks 67]

That's too bad. I will never truly understand why EA operates the way it does. Sigh...

[LDR 234]

That's too bad. I will never truly understand why EA operates the way it does. Sigh...

I do. Generate profit with dedicated consumers, and as much of it as possible. Just look at all the people buying the new Battlefront 2.

[Maphisto86 10]

EA has enough brand clout that it can run roughshod over the smaller studios it has in their pockets. Even though I should know better, I still feel tempted to buy Battlefront 2. EA is the new dark side of gaming studios. ; )

[narshaddaarocks 67]

I do. Generate profit with dedicated consumers, and as much of it as possible. Just look at all the people buying the new Battlefront 2.

Yes, I should have guessed.

 

It's a pity for Star Wars games. Things are no better than they were under Lucasarts during its final years.

[Domino5555 119]

I think the quality of Star Wars games started declining around the time when Star Wars: The Clone Wars took shape. I'm not using that show as a scapegoat because I hate it. In fact, I love that show. I'm guessing that Lucasfilm began to put more focus into their new animated show than in their licensed games, and let's face it, even critically acclaimed shows and movies can have God awful tie-ins. Look at Young Justice for instance; that was a very well received show, but the licensed game was crap.

[dg1995 28]

Yes, I should have guessed.

 

It's a pity for Star Wars games. Things are no better than they were under Lucasarts during its final years.

 

Yes . . . and worse than that, they aren't making any good licensed games like they were making in PS2/Xbox/GC era. (For example: the 007 games, Lord of the Rings games, and that Godfather game.)

[narshaddaarocks 67]

 

Yes . . . and worse than that, they aren't making any good licensed games like they were making in PS2/Xbox/GC era. (For example: the 007 games, Lord of the Rings games, and that Godfather game.)

I agree. The PS2/Xbox/GC era was a very special time that is sadly is over.

[dg1995 28]

More details of why Visceral was closed:

https://kotaku.com/the-collapse-of-viscerals-ambitious-star-wars-game-1819916152

 

1. Visceral lacked the man power and couldn't hire more staff.

2. Amy Hennig didn't trust the Visceral Staff.

3. Half of the Visceral were busy with Battlefield Hardline and it's DLCs.

4. Jade Reymond's studio(Motive) was supposed to help Visceral, but EA put them on Battlefront 2 Campaign instead.

5. Making a 3rd person game by Frostbite Engine was pretty hard.

 

This part was pretty painful:

“She (Amy Hennig) was giving these massive presentations on the story, themes,” said one person who worked on Ragtag. “EA executives are like, ‘FIFA Ultimate Team makes a billion dollars a year.’ Where’s your version of that?”

[Domino5555 119]

More details of why Visceral was closed:

https://kotaku.com/the-collapse-of-viscerals-ambitious-star-wars-game-1819916152

 

1. Visceral lacked the man power and couldn't hire more staff.

2. Amy Hennig didn't trust the Visceral Staff.

3. Half of the Visceral were busy with Battlefield Hardline and it's DLCs.

4. Jade Reymond's studio(Motive) was supposed to help Visceral, but EA put them on Battlefront 2 Campaign instead.

5. Making a 3rd person game by Frostbite Engine was pretty hard.

 

This part was pretty painful:

“She (Amy Hennig) was giving these massive presentations on the story, themes,” said one person who worked on Ragtag. “EA executives are like, ‘FIFA Ultimate Team makes a billion dollars a year.’ Where’s your version of that?”

3. So Batttlefield Hardline was partially to blame after all.

 

4. If the campaign for Battlefront 2 sucks, I am going to very pissed that Motive Studios was wasted.

 

5. Then maybe Mass Effect: Andromeda should have continued to use the Unreal Engine, as opposed to a whole new engine.

[dg1995 28]

Well, I have Seen battlefront 2 campaign Footage from Star Wars HQ(Or maybe it was Battlefront HQ I don't know) youtube channel. It didn't impress me that much.

1.Starfighter Parts Looked inferior compare to Rogue Squadron,Starfighter and even the Original Battlefronts.

2.the Shooting parts were also felt very simple and mediocre.(Regenerating HP and unlimited Bullets)

3.They didn't show that much Droid gameplay but it felt like those Batman Games.

[Domino5555 119]

Well, I have Seen battlefront 2 campaign Footage from Star Wars HQ(Or maybe it was Battlefront HQ I don't know) youtube channel. It didn't impress me that much.

1.Starfighter Parts Looked inferior compare to Rogue Squadron,Starfighter and even the Original Battlefronts.

2.the Shooting parts were also felt very simple and mediocre.(Regenerating HP and unlimited Bullets)

3.They didn't show that much Droid gameplay but it felt like those Batman Games.

1. At least the flying sections are better than the previous Battlefront by DICE.

2. To think that Call of Duty, of all games, would eschew the regenerating health (in the singleplayer, at least), while Battlefront II keeps it. I'll let the lack of ammo in favor of energy overheating so I can have UNLIMITED POWER!!!

3. You mean the Batman: Arkham games right?

[dg1995 28]

Yep. like Arkham Games. You go into a Droid vision mode and then see all the enemies in the area.

[Haveayap 127]

1. At least the flying sections are better than the previous Battlefront by DICE.

2. To think that Call of Duty, of all games, would eschew the regenerating health (in the singleplayer, at least), while Battlefront II keeps it. I'll let the lack of ammo in favor of energy overheating so I can have UNLIMITED POWER!!!

3. You mean the Batman: Arkham games right?

probably have to pay $25 to fly LOL

[Domino5555 119]

probably have to pay $25 to fly LOL

Good joke, but somewhat irrelevant.

[ADG12311990 21]

More details of why Visceral was closed:

https://kotaku.com/the-collapse-of-viscerals-ambitious-star-wars-game-1819916152

 

1. Visceral lacked the man power and couldn't hire more staff.

2. Amy Hennig didn't trust the Visceral Staff.

3. Half of the Visceral were busy with Battlefield Hardline and it's DLCs.

4. Jade Reymond's studio(Motive) was supposed to help Visceral, but EA put them on Battlefront 2 Campaign instead.

5. Making a 3rd person game by Frostbite Engine was pretty hard.

 

This part was pretty painful:

“She (Amy Hennig) was giving these massive presentations on the story, themes,” said one person who worked on Ragtag. “EA executives are like, ‘FIFA Ultimate Team makes a billion dollars a year.’ Where’s your version of that?”

 

After reading that, It feels like Visceral's "eyes were too big for it's stomach", and they wanted to do more then they could do. And of course, LucasFilm might share some blame in how long it takes them to approve things.

 

Basically, the blame doesn't solely lie with EA (As some online will tell you)

[Maphisto86 10]

More details of why Visceral was closed:

https://kotaku.com/the-collapse-of-viscerals-ambitious-star-wars-game-1819916152

 

1. Visceral lacked the man power and couldn't hire more staff.

2. Amy Hennig didn't trust the Visceral Staff.

3. Half of the Visceral were busy with Battlefield Hardline and it's DLCs.

4. Jade Reymond's studio(Motive) was supposed to help Visceral, but EA put them on Battlefront 2 Campaign instead.

5. Making a 3rd person game by Frostbite Engine was pretty hard.

 

This part was pretty painful:

“She (Amy Hennig) was giving these massive presentations on the story, themes,” said one person who worked on Ragtag. “EA executives are like, ‘FIFA Ultimate Team makes a billion dollars a year.’ Where’s your version of that?”

 

Ugh, I hope that part about the EA executives is not true. That is just awful! That being said, thank you dg1995 for posting this article. It really puts everything into context such as the location of Visceral's offices no longer being tenable, the gradual bleedoff of staff, etc. A pretty painful story for a studio I really loved. I just hope everyone involved can move on to bigger and better projects.