EA Shuts Down Dead Space Developer Visceral Games

Just four days after the Dead Space series’ 9th anniversary, today it has been announced that its creator, Visceral Games, is closing its doors.

In a statement made on EA’s website, the publisher explained that Visceral Games’ in-development Star Wars project wasn’t on the track that the publisher deemed best, noting that play-testing indicated players wanted an experience that they “will want to come back to and enjoy for a long time to come.” This in contrast to what Visceral were working on, which was described as “a story-based, linear adventure game.” Uncharted series alum Amy Hennig was to direct the game; she’s in discussion with EA about her next move, according to a comment from EA made to Kotaku’s Jason Schreier. Other members of the formerly active studio will be moved to additional projects with EA.

Visceral Games delivered to the world arguably one of the best survival horror games last console generation in 2008. The game was followed up by its incredible sequel Dead Space 2 in 2011. The series concluded with Dead Space 3 in 2013, which received a mixed reception due to an emphasis on microtransactions, action-oriented gameplay, and co-op. Visceral Games was the first developer which I had the chance to interview in person, and Dead Space 2 was the first game I received ahead of launch for review; thinking on it, this studio was deeply connected to my career in the game industry. It’s a sad day. I hope everyone there quickly find new job placements.

[Source, via Kotaku]

Update: The studio posted the following picture on Twitter of the team. God speed, folks.