EA announced that they are shutting down Visceral Games (developers of the Dead Space series) yesterday, and the company is feeling the effects of the closure today. CNBC reports that Electronic Art’s stocks took a tumble today, dropping almost three percent to $112.39. The reason? The delay of the Star Wars title that was being developed by Visceral Games that was moved to another studio.
Please note though, that this drop is in spite of the fact that analysts have not changed their ratings on the company. CNBC provides elaboration:
Analysts at Atlantic Equities estimated the game would sell about 8 million copies.
“While disappointing, this is not a view changer,” they wrote, citing the company’s ability to generate sales off its existing portfolio. The analysts cut their fiscal year 2019 earnings per share estimate for the company by 2 percent, but they still project solid growth, particularly as its FIFA soccer game franchise appears set to get a boost from the World Cup.
Since the closure announcement, there has been a lot of speculation flying around about about this Star Wars game’s future and what EA’s statement means for both the title and their stance on single player games. Jason Schreier, one of the original reporters on the closure, provided some more details on Twitter:
“I feel like I should clarify that despite today’s Hot Takes, Visceral’s game was not canned b/c it was single-player (from what I’ve heard)”
We will keep you updated on EA, the formerly single player Star Wars title, and Visceral Games’ closure as it comes in.
[Source: CNBC]
