The Collapse Of Viscerals Ambitious Star Wars Game. Key art for Viscerals Ragtag, which told the story of a band of characters fighting against a mob boss. In the center is the protagonist, Dodger, a Han Solo type rogue with a charming mustache. It seemed like a surefire hit a Star Wars take on Uncharted, published by Electronic Arts and developed by the longrunning studio Visceral Games. But nothing is sure in the video game industry, and on October 1. Visceral were told that the company would be closing, some who had worked for the studio found themselves unsurprised. In many peoples eyes, doom was inevitable. Visceral Games had been an odd fit at EA for several years now. First founded in 1. EA Redwood Shores, the studio developed a mishmash of assorted games in the 2. Dead Space. After three Dead Space games and a couple of spin offs, the company went on to make the first person shooter Battlefield Hardline, which came out in 2. Star Wars Battlefront Pc Full Form' title='Star Wars Battlefront Pc Full Form' />Around the same time, under the iconic director Amy Hennig, who was best known for writing and directing the first three Uncharted games, Visceral launched a project called Ragtag. This was meant to be EAs entry into the action adventure market a linear Star Wars story set between the episode IV and V movies that would compete with the likes of Uncharted and Tomb Raider. In the weeks leading up to the studios closure, the staff of Visceral Games had crunched hard, working long hours to make a demo for Ragtag that they hoped might impress EA. Alongside the Canada based studio EA Vancouver, Viscerals employees made a set of high octane demos in which Ragtags main characters would get chased by an AT ST walker, get into a shootout on the desert planet Tatooine, and embark on a rescue mission within the dungeons of Jabbas palace. One person who worked on the game described these demos as a sampler platter, something that would show EAs executives what Viscerals vision of Uncharted Star Wars could become. Lego Star Wars The Video Game is a Legothemed, actionadventure video game based on the Lego Star Wars line of toys, and the first installment in the Lego video. EAs Star Wars Battlefront II is easily one of the most eagerlyawaited games of the fall release season and its eyepopping imagery and immersion into the Star Wars. The demos werent enough. Former Visceral employees dont know when EA made the decision to shut down their studio, but on October 1. Visceral, which employed around 8. Staff say they were given three weeks to put together portfolios and look for other employment, both in and outside of EA. This news immediately led to a glut of opinions and editorials about the death of single player video games. Visceral, best known for making a linear action adventure game series called Dead Space, did not fit into EAs focus on games as a service, a common phrase referring to games designed to be playable, and to generate money, long after they have launched. EAs statement made the same implications, stating about Ragtag 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. But the story behind Ragtag is more complicated than critics and pundits have assumed, and the project was more troubled than EA has admitted publicly. Among game developers, its been an open secret for months that Viscerals game was in danger. The studio had been bleeding staff for years, and recruiters across the video game industry exchanged whispers about Visceral employees who were looking for new work, according to several people who have shared these rumours with me over the past couple of years. Over the past week Ive talked to nearly a dozen former Visceral employees who worked on Ragtag, all of whom spoke anonymously because they did not want to risk damaging their careers. Ive also spoken to several other developers who are tangentially connected to Visceral. Star Wars Battlefront Pc Full Form' title='Star Wars Battlefront Pc Full Form' />A closer look at Star Wars Battlefront 2 based on the recently concluded multiplayer beta. Rogue One might be a standalone Star Wars movie, but it plays a big role in the larger universe. Heres what you should watch and read before seeing it. VR support for Star Wars Battlefront 2 looks more likely than ever as fans have posted a supposed image of a thumbnail confirming PSVR support. Star Wars Battlefront II singleplayer and multiplayer handson A new hope Hokey religions are no match for a good blaster at your side. Star Wars Battlefront II coming soon to Green Man Gaming Now. Official retailer for PC Digital Download game keys. In this installment of The Star Wars Show which includes paid content by Electronic Arts, we play Star Wars Battlefront II in REAL LIFE with some familiar friends. They all share similar stories. Ragtag was a project sunk by many factors, including a lack of resources, a vision that was too ambitious for its budget, a difficult game engine, a director who clashed with staff, a studio located in one of the most expensive cities in the world, a reputation for toxicity, multiple conflicts between Visceral and EA, and what can only be described as the curse of Star Wars. Some say that EA was never quite committed to Ragtag, in large part because it represented the type of game that the publisher has mostly abandoned a single player, play it once game that would need to sell millions just to break even. Yet Viscerals problems had deeper roots. It felt like we were always under the threat of closure, said one former employee. It was a really unhealthy place. Art from Dead Space, by Visceral Games. In the course of reporting this story and learning about the struggles of Ragtag, we wound up with a lot of questions for EA. When presented with some of these questions, the company chose not to answer them one by one, but instead to provide a statement by executive president Patrick Sderlund that provided a general sense of his philosophy on game development. Making games is hard, he said. Thats not new, but it bears saying again because if anything, its getting more complex. But thats what gets us up in the morning, we love it. We have amazingly talented people making games, and very powerful tools but expectations are going up at an even faster rate. We see it when we talk to players. We see it in our own games, in the feedback people give us, and how they play. We see it from what other games people loveand which ones they dont. There are a ton of factors. EA, for its part, also disputes the notion that it killed Ragtag for being single player. This truly isnt about the death of single player games I love single player, by the way or story and character driven games, said Sderlund. Storytelling has always been part of who we are, and single player games will of course continue. This also isnt about needing a game that monetizes in a certain way. So it is with your wife. She requires a specific form of stimulation to orgasm, thats all. That doesnt mean that she doesnt enjoy sex with you. Install Java Updates Through Group Policy here. Amazon. com Star Wars Battlefront II Elite Trooper Deluxe Edition PlayStation 4 Star Wars Battlefron II Elite Trooper Deluxe Ed Video Games. Those are both important topics, but thats not what this is. At the end of the day, this was a creative decision. Our job is to give people a deep enough experience and story, and its also to push the boundaries forward. We just didnt think we were getting it quite right. Sderlund, like many close to this project, has his own perspective on what happened. To many who worked at Visceral Games in its last few years of operation, it seemed like they were on borrowed time. It was a near certainty that this time would run out. Star Wars Battlefront Pc Full Form' title='Star Wars Battlefront Pc Full Form' />If you wanted to pinpoint the exact moment that Visceral Games became doomed, youd need to go back to the beginning of 2. On February 5 of that year, Visceral released what would turn out to be its last Dead Space game, Dead Space 3. The third Dead Space disappointed many fans, and it was a commercial flop for EA, failing to hit the companys lofty sales expectations. Dead Space 3 came in below our forecast, an EA executive said during an earnings call in May 2. The company did not give out specific numbers, but by some estimates, a Dead Space game would have needed to sell five million copies just to break even. It became clear then that EA no longer had much appetite to make expensive games that people would only play once.