EA Shutting Down Visceral Games, New Star Wars Project Reassigned to EA Vancouver

Electronic Arts has announced they’re shuttering their Visceral Games studio.

The news comes via EA Worldwide Studios vice president Patrick Soderlund, who confirmed they’re going to “ramp down and close” the studio, while they’re currently in the process of moving “as many of the team as possible” to other projects within the company.

The code-named Ragtag action-adventure game set within the Star Wars universe is going to be re-assigned to EA Vancouver, led by a team within the studio that has been already working on the title. Electronic Arts noted they’ve changed the game from its “story-based, linear adventure” build to a more “broader experience.”

Here’s the full statement from Soderlund:

In its current form, [the Star Wars title] 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.

The game was originally set to launch sometime in fiscal year 2019 – now Electronic Arts is projecting the game for a new time frame, and will announce further details later.

Regarding former Naughty Dog boss Amy Hennig, who joined the studio back in 2014, is “in discussions” with Electronic Arts regarding “her next move,” news confirmed by Kotaku.

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