EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

[Flawless]

Another single player focused Star Wars title bites the dust. Dead Space creators Star Wars game will be revamped.

https://www.ea.com/news/an-update-on-the-visceral-star-wars-project

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. 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.

This move leads to a few other changes:

A development team from across EA Worldwide Studios will take over development of this game, led by a team from EA Vancouver that has already been working on the project. Our Visceral studio will be ramping down and closing, and we’re in the midst of shifting as many of the team as possible to other projects and teams at EA.

Lastly, while we had originally expected this game to launch late in our fiscal year 2019, we’re now looking at a new timeframe that we will announce in the future.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

Was this the "spiritual successor" to 1313?

[Picci]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

I'm sure investors will be pleased and at ease that EA Canada (or known as Vancouver) will lead the project going forward. It is their flagship.

[Flawless]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

Was this the "spiritual successor" to 1313?

Pretty much. Both were said to be along of the lines of an Uncharted. Now from reading the statement put out, it's pretty clear what it will become.

[Flawless]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

EA also meddled with Dead Space 3 and ruined that franchise.

Eurogamer - The Dead Space 3 the developers wanted to make

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiQiF9Wt2lM

• More survival horror
• Less action
• No micro-transactions
• Focus on dementia and psychosis
• More complex crafting system

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

Pretty much. Both were said to be along of the lines of an Uncharted. Now from reading the statement put out, it's pretty clear what it will become.

Great. We'll never even catch a whiff of what they game should have been.

[Flawless]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

Waypoint: Today's Star Wars News Makes the Future of Single-Player Look Very Messy

There are few brands in the world that can compete with Star Wars. Marvel? Disney? (It's not a coincidence all three—Star Wars, Marvel, Disney—are owned by the same company.) If there was a fictional universe with enough fandom to give a game publisher confidence it could support an expensive game aimed at players looking to experience a good story and move on, you'd think it would be Star Wars. And yet, here we are. That game is no more.

"God, I love 'em," said Epic Games public relations manager Nick Chester on Twitter, as folks tried to make sense of EA's news, "but [big] budget, large scale, AAA, story driven games are expensive and risky to make. A huge IP doesn't guarantee a win."

The first response that many, including yours truly, had to EA's announcement was "Oh, they want their own Destiny." Granted, the EA-owned BioWare announced its own Destiny-like game at E3 this year, Anthem, but Anthem remains a risk. It's a new property with a new universe, and players might reject it. You can imagine how compelling the notion of a Destiny-like game with the Star Wars license would be to EA. It's an endless pit of money, one where even a mediocre attempt would have a higher potential to become a cash cow.

A lot of single-player games haven't sold to expectations in the past year or so, including Prey, Dishonored 2, Resident Evil 7, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and others.

There are exceptions to every rule, of course. How to explain The Witcher 3, a game with arguably too much content, yet none of the gross monetization hooks?

"AAA non service / single player games can succeed," said Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter, "but they really need to be the best in the genre and executed perfectly."

He's probably right. The Witcher 3, and games like it, are an aberration. (It will also be interesting to see if CD Projekt RED's next game, Cyberpunk 2077, will resist the siren call.) Same with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Or Super Mario Odyssey. Actually, maybe Nintendo should just make more games? (It probably helps they don't aim for photorealism.)

The most upsetting takeaway might be an uncomfortable truth: without loot boxes, or opportunistic ideas like it, maybe these games can't exist.

[LambertandHam]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

Another studio claimed by EA. Bioware, Maxis, Criterion, Mythic, Westwood...

[SeaTownGamer]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

They're going to make another game with microtransactions. Book it.


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[boomhauertjs]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

All I want is a Mass Effect type game, but set in the Star Wars universe. Is that so hard to do?

[SeaTownGamer]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

All I want is a Mass Effect type game, but set in the Star Wars universe. Is that so hard to do?

I want another dead space set in a dead space universe. Is that hard for them to do? Lol


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[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

All I want is a Mass Effect type game, but set in the Star Wars universe. Is that so hard to do?

A return to Knights of the Old Republic?

[Maverick09]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

Sounds like the game is being shifted from a linear single-player action adventure game to possibly an open world RPG.

Can't really blame them, IMO linear single player games are dying out. I used to enjoy them back in the day, however the genre has gotten stale for me personally; I like games with more replay value. I can understand how people would still enjoy them though.

I just hope it doesn't fall into the trap of other open world RPG's (which are satured in the current video game market), with repetitive content to extend the games replay value. I'm really hoping for another KOTOR but I'm not holding my breath.

I really hope at least one good Star Wars game comes out of this new Disney partnership.

[SeaTownGamer]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

Sounds like the game is being shifted from a linear single-player action adventure game to possibly an open world RPG.

Can't really blame them, IMO linear single player games are dying out. I used to enjoy them back in the day, however the genre has gotten stale for me personally; I like games with more replay value. I can understand how people would still enjoy them though.

I just hope it doesn't fall into the trap of other open world RPG's (which are satured in the current video game market), with repetitive content to extend the games replay value. I'm really hoping for another KOTOR but I'm not holding my breath.

I really hope at least one good Star Wars game comes out of this new Disney partnership.

More like it's being shifted to microtransactions and loot boxes. It's EA would you really put it past them?


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[mgoblue]

Re: EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

How many of these microtransaction games can truly be popular at once? Seems like people pick one and then move on after a bit...

I gotta think it'll swing back a bit towards single player eventually...once some microtransaction games fail.