Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Publisher Electronic Arts has announced Tuesday its plans to revamp a planned Star Wars video game from developer Visceral Games.
The announcement also included news that EA is shutting down Visceral Games which was known for developing the Dead Space series and most recently Battlefield Hardline.
"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," EA executive vice president Patrick Soderlund said of the untitled Star Wars game in a blog post.
"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," he continued of EA's plans to rework the title.
As Visceral Games shuts down, development on the Star Wars project will handled by multiple EA studios led by a team from EA Vancouver. "We're in the midst of shifting as many of the team as possible to other projects and teams at EA," the company said of how its moving around Visceral employees.
EA has also officially delayed the game which was originally set to launch during the company's 2019 fiscal year which runs from April 2018 to March 2019, Polygon reported. It has now been pushed back indefinitely.
The game was being directed by Amy Hennig who famously worked on Sony's acclaimed Uncharted series. The Star Wars project was said to be a single-player, story-focused title in the style of Uncharted.
When asked by IGN about Hennig's standing with the company, EA responded that they are "in discussions with Amy about her next move."
EA is set to launch its Star Wars game, Battlefront II for the Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC on Nov. 17.
