EA CEO Comments on Shutting Down Visceral Games

"It does happen from time to time as part of the creative process."

By Joe Skrebels

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has commented on the closure of Visceral Games, and discussed the refocusing of its in-development Star Wars game.

Speaking on an EA earnings call (as transcribed by Seeking Alpha), Wilson was asked about the decision by a shareholder:

"Anytime you close a studio, it's a very, very tough decision," he replied, "and something that we take very seriously, and we spend a lot of time working through before we make such a decision. But it does happen from time to time as part of the creative process."

The decision to refocus the Star Wars game that saw the Dead Space development studio shut down came after playtesting the game, and seeing how the games market had changed in recent years:

"During the development process of the game that they were working on, we've been testing the game content with players, listening to their feedback in terms of what and how they wanted to play and really tracking that closely with fundamental shifts in the marketplace and we are seeing an evolution in the marketplace. And it became clear to us that to deliver the experience that players wanted to come back and enjoy for a long time, that we needed to pivot the design."

Many have seen this as part of a growing trend wherein AAA publishers abandon traditional single-player games in favour of the "games-as-service" model popularised by the likes of Destiny and Overwatch - but Wilson disputes that idea, implying that the game as it was simply didn't work for players:

"You may have heard the conversation around single-player versus multiplayer or single-player versus live service, and this wasn't about that conversation. It wasn't about this was just a single-player game or it needed to be a live service, it was more about how do we get to a point where the overall gameplay experience was right for players."

Wilson's comments echo the statement from EA's Patrick Söderlund, who called it a "creative decision".

Wilson finishes by reiterating that EA intends to reuse elements of Visceral's version of the game in the refocused version now being led by EA Vancouver:

"We're also very happy with some of the assets and content that was created as part of that game development and we'll be looking at how we can better utilize that in line with fan and player expectations in the future."

Visceral's version of the game was a linear, story-based experience, which we now know would have featured multiple playable characters and had a Star Wars meets Ocean's 11 vibe.

Despite Wilson's comments, it's clear that EA is pushing toward games-as-service as a whole - FIFA and Madden already exemplify the idea with Ultimate Team, while Star Wars Battlefront 2 is the latest game to adopt the model with its controversial loot box system.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and he can't help but think he'll never get to play as a walrus with a gun now. Follow him on Twitter.

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