260°

Amy Henning joins Visceral Games

EA :

"Amy has long been recognized as one of our industry’s top visionaries, and is coming off an amazing run as the Writer and Creative Director of the Uncharted franchise. But her contributions go beyond the games she helped create at Naughty Dog and at Crystal Dynamics, where we worked together many years ago. As both a colleague and friend, I’ve always admired her approach to creative development – focusing on nailing down the soul of a game first, and then making sure the writing, the gameplay, the design and the art comes together to form a unified, interactive experience for the player. This fits in perfectly with what we’re trying to do here at Visceral and Amy’s going to help us continue in our pursuit to make the most thrilling, immersive games in the world.

Over the last few weeks, Amy and I have spent a lot of time talking about what her first project would be. There are a lot of different directions we could have gone, but I could sense that what really excited h...

-Foxtrot3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

Amy Hennig....EA

WTF

:(

Of all the studios out there

Rocksteady, Rockstar, Valve, Sucker Punch, Ubisoft, Bethesda, Square Enix

She is not going to get creative freedom under EA like she did at Sony.

ThatArtGuy3669d ago

If they want her, they will. She has negotiation power on her side.

-Foxtrot3669d ago

It's EA....Amy would actually need to be able to use the force to convince EA.

<Waves hand>

"Bring me a taco"

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/bfia...

morganfell3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

Yeah she will have freedom. Just ask Zampella...

No contract is long enough to cover everything that EA might do behind your back.

a08andan3669d ago

"She's the Creative Director on the Star Wars project."

you said: "She is not going to get creative freedom under EA like she did at Sony."

How does that work :P?

-Foxtrot3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

How does it work.......really?

It doesn't matter what you are in a studio under EA, if they want something changed they'll make you change it.

So even though she's the creative director still if she does something EA doesn't like the look of they'll ask her to change it. Other studios, not just Sony, offer more freedom then that. So for EXAMPLE Amy could pitch something about stealth and RPG elements, EA could say "...but what about guns......no guns?.....add guns now" and she would have no choice, her vision has been changed that easy.

Look what happened to Overstrike with Insomniac Games, EA had their say and it turned into FUSE.

Bioware with Dragon Age 2 and possibly Mass Effect 3

Visceral Games with Dead Space 3

SimCity

Dungeon Keeper

Disagree all you want but you knew what I meant above in my original comment.

Eonjay3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

Sony, as the Publisher of Naughty Dog games was well known for being hands off. Honestly, being a creative director of a Star Wars project has to be extremely daunting. Creative liberties are frowned upon by cult followings. So, EA would be the least of her problems. Does she have to create a cannon based narrative?

For example, I really enjoyed what JJ did with Star Trek. Others did not. So the reception of her work will be very subjective at best.

There are inherent creative restrictions in place when doing work on an established franchise.

Death3669d ago

You do know EA isn't a person, right? EA doesn't say anything to anyone, it the name of the company. As Creative Director it will be Amy's job to take the game ideas/concept and turn them into a game. She will still be part of a development team and have people working above that she answers to as well as people working under her. Creative Director isn't as autonomous as you think.

Dudebro903669d ago

Says who?

People always claim that ea does all of these awful things to their developers, yet we never see any proof.

Like when people said EA forced Viceral to add co op in dead space 3, but then viceral said it was their choice, yet some people still claim it was ea.

Amy could of gone anywhere she wanted, I highly doubt she would go to ea unless she had creative freedoms

-Foxtrot3669d ago

"People always claim that ea does all of these awful things to their developers, yet we never see any proof."

Look at Bioware before EA...then after

HUGE difference

majiebeast3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

There is a reason so many people leave when their studio gets bought by EA.

-Bioware doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk
-Glen Schofield(visceral games)now(Sledgehammer games)
-Peter Molyneux
-Will Wright
-Popcap founders

List goes on and on lets not even talk about the studios they killed

-Westwood
-Pandemic
-Bullfrog

Baka-akaB3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

Dude there is a whole history of great studios going under , even while their games actually sell , when owned by EA .

She might be fine , at least for a while , but let's not pretend EA didnt abuse , mistreat , and screwed over many great studios .

Hell if you dont feel like seeking stuff like Westwood studios , CoD basically exists because the medal of honor creators ran away .

If they mess with her , they'll go like the wind and find jobs immediately , but they deserves their rep

majiebeast3669d ago

They closed down studios left and right in 2013 but they had no problem giving Richitello a multimillion golden parachute while he was the cause of all the closure with reckless spending.

Pudge883669d ago

@Dudebro... of course they are gonna say it was their choice(Viceral), EA probably made them say that... im pretty sure you wouldnt say it was your managers job that the game sucks, you would get fired.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3669d ago
iamnsuperman3669d ago

"Of all the studios out there

Rocksteady, Rockstar, Valve, Sucker Punch, Ubisoft, Bethesda, Square Enix"

You know you cant just turn up at a studio as say "Hey, I am a good creative director hire me". Those studios probably don't have projects for her to be apart of. EA clearly does so why not EA

jdaboss3669d ago Show
-Foxtrot3669d ago Show
Ducky3669d ago

... considering the reasons to why she left are still muddled, and that she's willingly taking a job at EA, I'm going to assume she knows more about what's best for her than you.

aragon3669d ago

why u get disagrees ducky? lol this woman doesnt know about whats best for herself in fanboys eyes? so lemme guess fanboys should decide who shes with the sex of her kids, where she works what she eats? grow up fanboys

LordMaim3669d ago

You're assuming the two things are unconnected. She talked about how much she loved Star Wars, so it's not a reach to say that she left Naughty Dog *because* of the EA position.

Dark113669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

Now her work will will be experienced by the xbox fans as well.

3669d ago Replies(2)
joab7773669d ago

But how great is it that she is the creative director on the new star wars game...c'mon.

And EA isnt the worst company out there...not even the worst gaming company. Yeah, they have their problems but she will be fine.

a08andan3669d ago

I am not one of your disagrees :P And as a creative director you would have the ability to make big decisions about where the game is heading and everything in it. Therefor I'd say she has a lot of creative freedom:P

-Foxtrot3669d ago

"she has a lot of creative freedom"

And what I'm trying to say that dosen't really matter at EA...they'll only allow her "creative freedom" when it's something THEY want.

If it's something risky or something EA knows won't sell tons and tons of copies then they'll ask her to change it plain and simple.

It's not like other studios where they would take a risk and trust their creative director. If EA thinks it won't bring in a lot of money they won't allow it.

FullmetalRoyale3669d ago

Jesus Christ. You are here, first of course, being negative about something. Color me surprised.

It's obvious when people have nothing good in their lives, because they come here and gripe about everything.

I see up in the article: Update She's the Creative Director on the Star Wars project.

And yet I look down at you(in more ways than one) making this somehow BAD news?

We have masterminds behind The Last of Us working on the new Uncharted, and Amy working on the next STAR WARS.... And you complain? What world are you living in?

http://i.imgur.com/fyFMwXS....

-Foxtrot3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

How is that negative when it's EA we are talking about...bloody EA

If I didn't say anything about it being EA you most likely would of turned around and called me a Sony fanboy or whatever. I can't win can I

"Oh bu bu but Foxtrot if this was anyone else you would be calling them...I mean it's EA, it's because she's from ND isn't it you Sony fanboy"

Flipgeneral3669d ago

I dont know man..

Dead space 1, mirrors edge, Dragon age origins... once upon a time they did actually take risks with their titles.

Heres hoping

truefan13669d ago

She left ND for EA that let's you know all these top devs leaving sony is not routine, minus the dev from driveclub. This illustrates she had a sour departure.

ZombieKiller3669d ago

I can't wait to see what she does with Star Wars! Regardless of whether or not I like this change, it happened so all I can do from here on is hope for the future.

It's A New Hope :)

Pogmathoin3669d ago Show
+ Show (11) more repliesLast reply 3668d ago
Emilio_Estevez3669d ago

While EA sounds bad at first glance, she's gonna be writing for Star Wars and that is awesome news!

Majin-vegeta3669d ago

If she's doing it for SWBF. There may be hope for it :D.

Emilio_Estevez3669d ago

'Amy Hennig - A New Hope'

BF2 is one of my favorites and also a game that I probably have the most hours into all time. I will never give up on it and never have. It's too awesome to let dwindle away.

Rickgrimes953669d ago

That is amazing can't wait to see what she does with star wars

Conzul3669d ago

Maybe it'll end up like the 1313 demo, which itself looked like 50/50 Star Wars and Uncharted.

Color me happy.

Rickgrimes953669d ago

Yeah I was really impressed by that demo but if they don't go that route I could see a Jedi game with arkham asylum/city fighting mechanics with a light saber that might be pretty cool

WeAreLegion3669d ago

It comes full circle. The creative director on 1313 works for Sony now. Lol.

TheTwelve3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

From Naughty Dog to EA.

All the best to her.

(Btw, EA is where she started her career)

AstroCyborg3669d ago

well there goes here carrer right down the craper

3669d ago Replies(1)
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220°

EA Hopes to Use Generative AI to Drive Monetization and Make Development 30% More Efficient

Today Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson provided a look into his ideas for the use of generative AI in the company's development processes.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
thorstein43d ago

I wonder what the next buzz word they'll slap in front of AI to make it sound exciting next? "Generative" as if it's creating its own content. Lol.

Cacabunga43d ago

EA is already dying a painful death..

peppeaccardo43d ago

i have a better idea .. why the whole exec team doesn't get replaced by chat bots ?

just_looken43d ago

Though i agree the ai thing is already in other forms of media there have been ai translations/scripts/voice over and even full ai commercials aired on tv. Ubisoft has created a ai game creator story/vo/music except the building of the game

The new unreal engine has auto terrain creation tools

In the world of greed in which it is winning without any major blow back ai is our future.

everyone want's biden dead on the mic or a criminal instead of a woman and now we are getting ai everything because no one will stop watching/playing ai created media.

GamerRN43d ago

Maybe they should just focus on making good games?

Just a thought...

Kiryu199242d ago

Exactly EA are just pure evil. When they are beating Bank of America to be voted the worst company to work for that’s saying a lot

Good thing I don’t buy their games day one and wait for deep deep sale years after launch (the select few games I am actually interested in)

Gaming is making so much money yet the greed of these companies is never ending

CEO’s and people on board making millions yet cutting jobs to those who are actually making the products

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 42d ago
Knightofelemia43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

EA is still a shady shitty company even with or without the help of Skynet. All they will use AI for is new ways to milk loot boxes and come up with the same sports title with a different year on the label. They are one company I truly do hate with a passion. They single handedly ruined some great franchise with their death touch. ME, Dead Space, Alice Returns, Dante's Inferno.

Stuart575643d ago

EA layoffs followed by 'Generative AI to Drive Monetization'

I knew it. Wonder what AI salary looks like? Nothing.

ChasterMies43d ago

I having a feeling that most of the layoffs in the industry are based on the idea that AI will do the same job for less.

DarXyde42d ago

Very likely, yes.

Made worse by the fact that the execs aren't changing their compensations.

My deepest fear at this point is that we are now in the capitalism endgame.

At this point, we really should just burn AI to the ground. Executives cannot be trusted to do the right thing.
How are those people expected to support families if everything gets automated?

Barlos43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

And take away creativity, and people's jobs as we've been seeing. Got it.

No thanks. I want my games created by people, not AI.

CobraKai43d ago

Exactly. If or when games start becoming more AI than people, im done with gaming. AI and companies like EA can suck donkey d***k.

just_looken43d ago

Though i agree remember this is no ps3/360 era were we got up to 3 games in one generation from on developer like gears/halo/bioware/sony/ms

The people today are pro esg/sweet baby for the most part AAA gaming is imploding right now.

We should be stepping back re evaluate everything as a whole this year xmen 97 written/directed by a woman that is nuts and its also being made by a group reshaping bodies to be less sexual like wtf. A dam famous cartoon from the 90's is being rebuilt with millions spent to be worse in everyway.

Gaming/movies/tv shows made today are worse than what we had 7years ago ai won't change this but that ai is also being made by these groups so either way we are screwed.
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Eonjay42d ago

Don't be of afraid of women. Sexy characters in games and movies still exist. Got my Stellar Blade on preorder!!! Everything all the time doesn't need to be sexual...that's stupid, childish and dull.

Chocoburger43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

EA doesn't want to lose their title of worst gaming company ever, always trying their best to remain the champs!
What's sad is that they have so much potential to be a decent publisher.

SSX Tricky / SSX 3
Def Jam Vendetta / Fight for New York
NBA Street
NFL Steet
Mirror's Edge
Bad Company
Burnout 3 / 4 / 5

Remember when EA used to be awesome? It's all over with now. Unpolished, if not out-right broken games these days. Endless monetization and gambling in their sports games, and let's not forget wasting hours of your life trying to unlock characters or equipment using "surprise boxes!"

Show all comments (37)
80°

EA And Sony Layoffs, Entertainment News And More Skewedcast

Gareth, Justin, and JoeyZ look at Layoff news for EA and Sony and reasons behind the downturn in the industry and more.

220°

EA - Continuing to evolve our business and teams

EA CEO Andrew Wilson writes: "In this time of change, we expect these decisions to impact approximately 5 percent of our workforce. I understand this will create uncertainty and be challenging for many who have worked with such dedication and passion and have made important contributions to our company. While not every team will be impacted, this is the hardest part of these changes, and we have deeply considered every option to try and limit impacts to our teams. Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition onto other projects. Where that’s not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care, and respect. Communicating these impacts has already begun and will be largely completed by early next quarter."

LG_Fox_Brazil50d ago

All the big ones doing the same stuff. Terrible. I just hope that all these people are able to get a new job as soon as possible, God know that it is horrible to be left jobless when you have your kids or your parents depending on your financial help

Jin_Sakai50d ago (Edited 50d ago )

2024 so far.

Feb ’28 Electronic Arts (EA) 670 (5%)
Feb ’24 PlayStation 900 (8%)
Feb ’24 Vice Media Group Several hundred
Feb ’24 Buzzfeed 16%
Feb ’24 NowThis 26 (50%)
Feb ’24 Paramount Global 800 (3%)
Feb ’24 SiriusXM 160 (3%)
Feb ’24 Snapchat 10%
Jan ’24 TechCrunch 8 + subscription product
Jan ’24 U.K.’s Channel 4 200
Jan ’24 Business Insider 8%
Jan ’24 Microsoft Gaming 1,900
Jan ’24 Riot Games 530
Jan ’24 Sports Illustrated Possibly all
Jan ’24 YouTube 100
Jan ’24 Pitchfork (Conde Nast) Undisclosed
Jan ’24 Universal Music Group Hundreds
Jan ’24 Discord 17%
Jan ’24 NBC News 50-100
Jan ’24 Audible 5%
Jan ’24 Google Hundreds
Jan ’24 Amazon Hundreds
Jan ’24 Duolingo 10%
Jan ’24 VideoAmp 20%

DATA AS OF FEB. 28, 2024

outsider162450d ago

Is it possible maybe this whole ai thing is in play?

just_looken50d ago

Another long list that skips over UPS cutting 12,000 jobs those workers as we know work without ac low pay and old box trucks but that company had to cut 12k jobs do too loosing billions of dollars year 2 year.

https://edition.cnn.com/202...

The greed and lack of transparency/oversight is disgusting.

Ups are still making bang but not enough for a golden boat fleet.

Remember we all use ups at some time even stuff in our stores this is going to be a huge issue gong forward i know in my area they removed half the state ups stores northern half least population got some 3rd party running packages now from minivans.

Sonic188150d ago

When I explan this I get called a troll 🤔 like wtf

thorstein50d ago

@just_looken

UPS is a different story altogether.

They are paying the people doing the actual work/ earning the money more and eliminating management.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 50d ago
CrimsonWing6950d ago (Edited 50d ago )

You do realize around this time this happens all throughout many industries (not just the game industry), right? It has to do with taxes for these major companies, like tax subsidies for downsizing. You want to know a little secret? Around May or so you’ll see a spike in hiring…

It blows my mind that people are oblivious to corporate workings.

Andrew33650d ago

So over 25 huge companies cut jobs every year like this and it only got noticed this time?

CrimsonWing6950d ago (Edited 50d ago )

@Andrew336

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Google it up if you’re uninformed of how corporations work. Only gamers seem to live in a bubble and when they see things like crunch, acquisitions, and lay-offs they act like this is the only industry it happens to and how shocked they are about it.

Welcome to the real world, kid.

thorstein50d ago (Edited 50d ago )

EA CEO Wilson's total compensation was 20 million. Let's take away 19 million (I'm sure he can survive on 1 million.... somehow).

1 million is the salary of an in the chair developer @100,000 for 10 years.

He could earn 1 million a year.

And save the jobs of 15 in the chair devs for A DECADE (plus benefits) with ONE YEAR'S compensation.

RhinoGamer8850d ago

No Executive accountability or firings I see...

just_looken50d ago

Do not worry they will take over 40mill say sorry then get hired by playstation or xbox

blackblades50d ago

I heard Japan does it better, they do layoffs like what's happening with companies in the west. The higher ups also being agreeing to to lower there own salary. These MFs like jim and Phil isnt gonna do that they want that $

Sonic188150d ago

Like I said earlier, this is happening all around the gaming industry.

Petebloodyonion50d ago

The point I feel is problematic about all of this is that focusing on Owned Ip means more sequels, remasters and more of what was selling last year.

TheColbertinator50d ago

EA is certainly among the worst,if not the worst

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