Electronic Arts announced that is closing down Visceral Games, creators of Dead Space. The studio was nowadays fully in production mode with a new adventure game based on the Star Wars franchise. The company announced this surprising move on their official blog.
In their post, they also announced that they’ll be relocating Visceral Games’ crew to other EA studios. As a collateral effect, the game is moving under the direction of EA Toronto. All in all, a bittersweet move that maintains the project alive while tearing down a consolidated studio. But such is the video games industry, as we know.
Executive Vice President of Electronic Arts Patrick Söderlund has also explained that they are taking this opportunity to introduce changes in the game.
“We will maintain the stunning visuals, authenticity in the Star Wars universe, and focus on bringing a Star Wars story to life”, he said. “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.”
These changes extend to the release date, of course. Originally scheduled for 2019, we are now looking at a later time frame. EA promises to announce more concrete details when the time comes.
