Yesterday’s news that EA is shutting down Visceral Games was certainly disappointing, but perhaps not entirely shocking. Over the years the studio gained a reputation for creating ambitious, critically acclaimed titles that ultimately fell short in the sales department. But games like Dead Space and Battlefield Hardline moved millions of copies! From an outside perspective, it can be hard to understand why these games were considered disappointments.
Well, former Visceral designer Zach Wilson recently took to Twitter to shed a bit more light on the studio’s troubles. Wilson, who was with Visceral during the development of Dead Space 2, says several factors contributed to the beloved horror title being branded a letdown…
Dead Space 2 cost 60 Million dollars to make and they were merciless with their budget. they only sold 4 mil and that wasn't enough
— Zach Wilson (@covernode) October 17, 2017
cause you gotta spend 60 million dollars marketing it and you take a huge hit from MS and retailers taking their cut
— Zach Wilson (@covernode) October 17, 2017
I don't know if it turned a profit. But it underperformed, and meeting expectations are as important
— Zach Wilson (@covernode) October 17, 2017
this also by the way is why you're seeing every pub make their own digital marketplace. do you hate uplay? Well, the pub gets 90% of the $$$
— Zach Wilson (@covernode) October 18, 2017
It’s an interesting perspective – we don’t often think about marketing, platform-holder fees, and the other hidden costs that drive up the bar for triple-A game success. Hindsight being 20-20, perhaps it would have been best if Visceral had shifted to smaller, lower-budget projects. Unfortunately, they kept trying to make big games, and eventually something had to give.
Following the shutdown, Visceral Games’ anticipated Star Wars title has shifted development to EA Vancouver. Zach Wilson is currently working at Bethesda on an unnamed project.
What do you think? Was there a way to save Visceral? Or were they trapped in a no-win situation?
