EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by Solariabsg25, Oct 18, 2017.

  1. Solariabsg25

    Solariabsg25 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2007
    Location:
    Bristol, UK
    http://www.pcgamer.com/visceral-games-closes-ea-changes-direction-of-studios-star-wars-game/

    They seem to have not liked the direction the Star Wars game was headed in. This is a shame as it seemed to be was headed for a proper story-line, so I'm wondering is EA are getting a little obsessed with online multi-player titles, especially considering the first Current-Gen Battlefront didn't even have a story or campaign mode.

    And, I would have liked to have seen a Dead Space 4. I assume this will also cause problems with rights issues for any possible Dead Space Movie.
     
  2. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Location:
    UK
    EA aren't obsessed with online multiplayer so much as they're obsessed with putting microtransactions in full priced games to squeeze every last penny they can out of their customer base. Online multiplayer just happens to be their preferred platform for this business model.

    Honestly, I'm surprised it took them this long to shut down Visceral given their track record of acquiring and dismantling smaller studios. I'm pretty sure Bioware is on pretty thin ice themselves and just given the number of high profile resignations over there of late, I wouldn't be surprised if they're the next to go.
     
  3. Captain of the USS Averof

    Captain of the USS Averof Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2016
    Location:
    Greece
  4. Jax

    Jax Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2003
    Location:
    The Universe.
    Never EVER allow EA to own your studio.

    We were set to get a linear, story driven game set in the Star Wars Universe, potentially the Star Wars version of Uncharted and now we will probably get...

    * A heavily focus tested product that ends up another generic shooter.

    * Open world with alot of recycled content like most open world games

    * Loose, unfocused story

    * Tacked on multiplayer

    * Lootboxes & Microtransactions gearing the game as a service

    * Rushed production cycle so probably buggy and incomplete + content cut out/held back for DLC
     
  5. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2009
    Location:
    Northern Ontario, Canada

    It's a shame, because outside of Battlefront, there hasn't really been a current-gen Star Wars game and I would think the franchise really needs it at this point. Have to wonder if maybe Disney is having second doubts about giving the Star Wars license to EA.
     
    AlphaMan likes this.
  6. Solariabsg25

    Solariabsg25 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2007
    Location:
    Bristol, UK
    Unsure given the amount of strange merchandise Disney has allowed out there if they really care about the quality as long as the dollars are rolling in.
     
  7. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2001
    Location:
    space
    The dollars won't roll in if they don't release actual games, though.

    EA has about a 20% net profit margin, which is quite high. They could afford to experiment. They just don't want to.
     
  8. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2009
    Location:
    Northern Ontario, Canada

    Exactly what I was thinking. Can't make money on them if there's nothing to make money out of, especially if a game keeps getting delayed. This one apparently has been in development for quite a long time and has already undergone several iterations.
     
  9. Kemaiku

    Kemaiku Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2004
    Location:
    Northern Ireland
    EA has closed more of these studios than about any other in gaming history. Basically people are expecting the end of the whole concept of single player in the next couple of years.
     
  10. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2005
    My video gaming habit will decrease significantly if single player games ever actually go by the wayside.

    Maybe that's not such a bad thing...
     
    AlphaMan, Jedi_Master and Kemaiku like this.
  11. Jax

    Jax Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2003
    Location:
    The Universe.
    If all games went Online then people will buy alot less IMO simply down to the fact that it's much harder to jumble multiple online games at once as a user rather than Single player games so surely the end result is less games being sold. The problem with online is you stop playing for a short time and you find us self so far behind everyone else, you can lose motivation to play + Servers going down means you can't play.

    We all know why they want these open world, always online game and that is they can cram the dam things full of Paid to win/Microtransactions + maintain a death like grip on the game post launch too. We would also lose the ability to play these games years down the line when they turn the servers off and it could happen a lot sooner if a game flopped.
     
  12. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2001
    Location:
    space
    The bulk of the money (and thus development spending) will be in online games, I'm sure. Single-player won't disappear, though. People have been predicting that it would pretty much since the early days of network play. There are still too many kinds of games--that still get made regularly--that aren't suited to an online/MP format.
     
  13. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2009
    Location:
    Northern Ontario, Canada
    Personally, I think it's just a phase. Online games are really taxing on developers, not only in terms of assets, but on to the well-being and morale of these people. I think I read an article that stated it was difficult to work on due them seeing no end in sight. I have to think that developers will come around to single-player games after experiencing how expensive online games are to produce and maintain. Plus, servers can't last forever.
     
  14. SPCTRE

    SPCTRE Badass Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2008
    Location:
    SPCTRE
    Which, as an unqualified statement, is of course utter nonsense.

    Which is not to say this news doesn't feel kind of awful.
     
  15. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Location:
    UK
    In broad terms, yes, that is a bit of an overstatement. But just applied to the top end of the industry, the projects with the multi-million budgets? Then it's probably accurate. More and more are switching to the idea of games a services rather than games as products. Almost reverting to the coin-op days in a sense.

    This "phase" has been going on for a decade or more with no sign of slowing down or stopping and is only getting worse in terms of how it treats it's customers.
    The working conditions won't mean a damn thing until the employees properly unionise to bring crunch under control. Currently, horrible working conditions and high turnover is almost expected within the gaming studio culture.

    The problem isn't this fad or that fad, it's that publishers are pushing ever more aggressively to make *all the money*. I'm not talking about sustainable profitability like a sensible business, I mean literally *all the money*. They're all trying to have that one game that everyone plays and they'll follow any trend, copy any competitor, cut any corner and use any shady consumer practice to achieve *all the money*.

    I tend to agree though that this won't last forever and is obviously not sustainable. The problem is the logical end result in a market crash within the gaming world that'll lead to *fewer* new games being made, not more and the larger companies that survive with probably do so by converting over to pure gambling platforms. Hell, Konami pretty much already has!

    That's why a lot of them increasingly rely of peer-to-peer hosting. Resulting in very uneven gaming experiences and dodgy matchmaking.
     
    Jedi_Master likes this.
  16. Kemaiku

    Kemaiku Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2004
    Location:
    Northern Ireland
    Even if it happened in AAA titles, they seem to be overlooking indie or smaller studio games that thrive on single player experiences. Then again a lot of these articles don't bother to care about about outside major studio titles.
     
  17. Smellmet

    Smellmet Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2013
    Location:
    The Northern Shires of England.
    Gutted about this. Though dead space 4 was unlikely anyway, they are right up there with my favourite series of games, especially the first two.
     
    AlphaMan likes this.
  18. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2009
    Location:
    Northern Ontario, Canada
    Yeah, unfortunately it's one of those industries, in particularly the online gaming sector, that has taken a long time to start to see the effects of. You're right that there's no sign of slowing down, and it's unfortunate.

    Yep, very true. They all want a piece of the pie. Fortunately for Blizzard, there timing was perfect, as they had come in just as the industry was starting to change, and they mostly were able to make it up as they went along, but unfortunately for everyone else, everyone wants to copy that success and lay another golden goose egg. Personally, I find single-player games easier to deal with, because they require less commitment. But online games, meanwhile, require more of a time sink. That's particularly true of those you pay per month, playing them as often as possible to get money's worth.

    Yeah, you're likely right about a possible market crash. I mean, with all of these online games vying for attention, obviously very few of them can be successful. And the result is that it leaves those unsuccessful studios with large investments that that end up sinking them, which is bound to have an effect on the industry at large. I'm all for market competition, but it does seem like it can be rather cruel.
     
  19. Oerdin

    Oerdin Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2010
    Location:
    Where the surf meets the turf.
    EA has always been a bad publisher even back in the late 1980's when I would play some of their titles on my trusty old C64. I would say they have actually gotten worse over the years.
     
  20. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2001
    Location:
    space
    Personally, I think the AAA space going full microtransactions, lootboxes, VGaaS, and abandoning the quality single-player space to lower budgets and smaller studios will ultimately be a boon to the latter. There is also a built-in ceiling. At some point, all the money able to tapped in this way will have been, and the AAA market will collapse. This would, again, open that space to more innovation. It'll suck for the people who lose their jobs but let's be real: there have been video game industry crashes before. There will be again.

    I am all in favor of them unionizing! :techman: Too bad most of them don't want unions.

    Indeed. Well, I guess that'll hurt really bad when they finally hit a brick wall.

    Or it'll lead to lots of smaller-budget games. A fun thing about wealth destruction, such as that brought on by a market crash, is that it presents an opportunity for new entrants to come in and grow without being crushed by larger firms.

    I will say EA is nowhere near cratering, though. They make insane profits and I suspect that's what is behind this: they have so many sure things in their pocket they don't see any point in gambling. A sadly conservative philosophy.

    I haven't experienced any of that. Sounds atrocious, though!