This week, Electronic Arts (EA) announced that it will be shutting down one of its studios, Visceral Games (Dead Space series, Battlefield Hardline).
The studio was currently in production with the next Star Wars title, which could delay the entire production momentarily. However, EA has revealed that the project will be taken over by sister studios, EA Worldwide Studios and EA Vancouver.
In a posting on EA’s official site, EA’s VP Patrick Söderlund wrote about the vision that Visceral had for the title and what fans could expect from the next Star Wars game:
“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.”
Currently EA Motive has been working on the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront II which recently enjoyed a successful beta on console and PC. EA Motive had been assisting Visceral on a project but it seems the closure would shift EA Motive to a more central production role.
The next Star Wars title was slated for 2019 release but the date will be pushed back as the studio will announce a date in the near future.
How will the partnering studios benefit from the recent transition for the production of the next Star Wars title? Let us know in the comments section below or follow Xbox Players SA on Facebook and Twitter.
