EA shuts down Visceral

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EA has shut down Visceral Games, the studio behind games like Battlefield Hardline and Dead Space, the publisher said today. The Star Wars game in development at Visceral will be revamped and move to a different studio.

“Our Visceral studio has been developing an action-adventure title set in the Star Wars universe,” EA’s Patrick Söderlund said. “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.”



https://kotaku.com/ea-shuts-down-visceral-games-1819623990?IR=T
 
Sounds like the star wars game is going to have a lot of MP and online bits forced into it by EA
 
That sucks..for both Visceral games and the direction that game is heading. They really did a great job on the Dead Space games. It's a shame they're being shut down.
 
I guess GaaS strikes again. The only logical way I can think for studios to combat this might be to raise the prices of games. Games nowadays cost more to develop and market as compared to yesteryear and haven't kept up with the times.

OR

We could chalk this up to EA being EA. Nothing to see here.
 
I guess GaaS strikes again. The only logical way I can think for studios to combat this might be to raise the prices of games. Games nowadays cost more to develop and market as compared to yesteryear and haven't kept up with the times.

OR

We could chalk this up to EA being EA. Nothing to see here.
No doubt games cost more to make compared to old generations.

BUT, there's less cost to manufacture as digital is the rage, most companies make their games for all platforms, and games sell a lot more. The industry is exponentially bigger than decades ago.

What is hurting companies is there seems to be a big divide between the big wigs and the no name indies. There's so many game studios making games, even some big publisher games get lost in the shuffle. And for all the indie games, I bet most gamers don't know 90% of the indies released on XBL, PSN or Steam.

The pie is growing, but there's so many people wanting a slice, the bakers can't make big cakes fast enough.
 
Yeah this sucks. Dead Space was a great series. And when I heard they were making a Star Wars game I was stoked. So are Visceral gone as a studio now ? I hope not.
 
I loved Battlefield Hardline, put in a lot of hours in MP it was one of my favorite shooter in the last couple years. Well this sucks I have been waiting for a BF Hardline 2 someday.
 
Must have been a sh*tty Star Wars game. Probably because Henning wasn't working 80 hours a week. Put in the time and it shows.
 
Wow, and they'd been working on that game for years. Sucks for all those devs, sucks for Hennig sucks all around. I was never even into the dead space games but could see that they seemed well made by talented teams. Visceral seemed like one of EA's few good dev houses. Lets hope they don't screw over respawn next. Hope Motive works out. I suppose I'm interested in other stuff respawn has brewing, but that star wars game was the only thing EA had that had my curiosity piqued. Literally the only thing they could do now to garner my interest is make a new "skate" game...
 
EA has shut down Visceral Games, the studio behind games like Battlefield Hardline and Dead Space, the publisher said today. The Star Wars game in development at Visceral will be revamped and move to a different studio.

“Our Visceral studio has been developing an action-adventure title set in the Star Wars universe,” EA’s Patrick Söderlund said. “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.”



https://kotaku.com/ea-shuts-down-visceral-games-1819623990?IR=T

So, basically, EA couldn't find a way to force in m'transactions.

Why is EA all Star Wars..and not good Star Wars like a SWTOR sequel but just meh shooter crap. Where are the MMOs and RPGs?
 
Wow, and they'd been working on that game for years. Sucks for all those devs, sucks for Hennig sucks all around. I was never even into the dead space games but could see that they seemed well made by talented teams. Visceral seemed like one of EA's few good dev houses. Lets hope they don't screw over respawn next. Hope Motive works out. I suppose I'm interested in other stuff respawn has brewing, but that star wars game was the only thing EA had that had my curiosity piqued. Literally the only thing they could do now to garner my interest is make a new "skate" game...
Dead Space was survival Horror done right.
 
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Dead Space was survival Horror done right.

Yeah. It’s a fantastic trilogy and the third one is one of the best co-op designed games I’ve ever played. I was really looking forward to what these guys were going to do with Star Wars.
 
Well, it's not like the studio has a proven track record, dealing with space and sci-fi themes.

And there's a massive hole in the market in regards to space/sci-fi themes multiplayer shooters right now.

I mean, it's not like there any Starwars themed multiplayer shooters either.
 
Well, it's not like the studio has a proven track record, dealing with space and sci-fi themes.

And there's a massive hole in the market in regards to space/sci-fi themes multiplayer shooters right now.

I mean, it's not like there any Starwars themed multiplayer shooters either.
Not really true at all, but if it was then why give them the IP to begin with?

Funny thing is Visceral did what they do best, small scale, linear, story/character driven Singleplayer experiences. We all know why these are a big no no nowadays.
 
Not really true at all, but if it was then why give them the IP to begin with?

Funny thing is Visceral did what they do best, small scale, linear, story/character driven Singleplayer experiences. We all know why these are a big no no nowadays.
Yeah, I needed Hrudey's sarcasm font for that post. :p

The studio isn't big enough to facilitate anything approaching Destiny/battlefield or half those other AA A games, is it?

Both Dice and Bungie are huge.

Although Respawn has about 160, and Titanfall turned out pretty grand, especially comparing that to DICE's 700.

Either way, I hope their sound team gets snapped up. Playing the first game in surround sound gave me the creeps. If someone were to ask me about intelligent sound design in gaming, I'd definitely think of dead space.
 
I'm stunned by the Star Wars news. I think it warrants a separate thread (well, maybe not, we'll see).
 
I'm more intrigued by what does EA plan to do with Amy Henning? Her bread and butter is these massive SP games. With EA looking to move away from that a bit I wonder what their plans are for her. Maybe having her pen a story for another one of their IPs but making sure the game has multiplay and some sort of GaaS feature?
 
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I may be over simplifying this but: can MS purchase this studio and save it? Make it a AAA dev house? Lawd knows they could use a good dev house with a solid track record...
 
I'm more intrigued by what does EA plan to do with Amy Henning? Her bread and butter is these massive SP games. With EA looking to move away from that a bit I wonder what their plans are for her. Maybe having her pen a story for another one of their IPs but making sure the game has multiplay and some sort of GaaS feature?

Yeah, I'm curious about that, too -- what they'll do with Amy Hennig. Or the work done on this project already.

I hope they don't just scrap it and make a Destiny clone. That would be a waste.