Uncharted Writer Joins Visceral Games For New Star Wars Project

[Andy Chalk]

Uncharted Writer Joins Visceral Games For New Star Wars Project

Amy Hennig, the Uncharted creative director who left Naughty Dog under a cloud last month, has joined EA's Visceral Games to work on a new Star Wars project.

Amy Hennig, the creative force behind the Uncharted franchise, left Naughty Dog early in March amid rumors she'd been forced out [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132660-Uncharted-Writer-Amy-Hennig-Departs-Naughty-Dog-Update] by Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley, the lead developers on The Last of Us. Naughty Dog denied the accusation but the whole affair was tinged with ugliness, especially since the actual reasons behind her decision to leave have never been made clear.

Regardless of her motivations, she wasn't out of work for long, as Electronic Arts announced today that she's joined its Visceral Games studio. "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," Visceral Games General Manager Steve Papoutsis wrote. "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."

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/amy_hennig/status/451770373894197249]

Papoutsis said Hennig had multiple studios express interest in signing her up, but Visceral is making a Star Wars game and Hennig is a "huge" Star Wars fan. It was, as they say, a natural fit - "Just thinking about the possibilities made both of us even more excited about having her join the team," Papoutsis wrote.

Details about Visceral's Star Wars game remain shrouded in secrecy, but the addition of Hennig as creative director is certainly a promising development.

Here's what Andrea had to say on Escapist News Now [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/133519-Escapist-News-Now-Uncharted-Director-Joins-Star-Wars-Project]:

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Source: Electronic Arts [http://www.ea.com/news/amy-hennig-joins-visceral-games]


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[Trishbot]

Well, at least she's a better writer than George Lucas.

Still, I'd hoped she'd want to resurrect the stalled Legacy of Kain universe, or, if she's at Visceral now, somehow fix Dead Space 3's plot.

 

[Nimcha]

Please be a resurrection of Star Wars 1313... please please please

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

This makes me really sad. NOT because I dislike her for any reason (I don't) but because of her previous work on Uncharted my gut instinct is to immediately pretend that she'll be put to work resurrecting Star Wars 1313.

One can only hope. Sorry for getting anyone elses hopes up, I know it won't happen :'(

 

[Andy Shandy]

Definitely a coup for Visceral and EA.

Star Wars fans should be happy with the story of the next game anyway.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Star Wars fans should be happy with the story of the next game anyway.

Only if you assume that the combined corporate meddling of EA and Disney will be non-existant. One will want microtransactions everywhere and the other will want merchandise opportunities for the next Jar Jar Binks.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

Well, at least she's a better writer than George Lucas.

Still, I'd hoped she'd want to resurrect the stalled Legacy of Kain universe, or, if she's at Visceral now, somehow fix Dead Space 3's plot.

Oi! I didn't think there was anything wrong with Dead Space 3's plot...other than making Ellie wimpy when before she was a total badass. Besides, I don't want Dead Space to come back. For me, it went out on a high note (not as high as DS2 but it was still a damn fine game...even with a crapton of bugs), and ended things in a satisfying way.

As for Hennig herself, I don't really care one way or another. Even as something of a Sony fanboy, I never thought Uncharted was anything special. Now if EA plucked the writer (or writers) for a PS3 exclusive game like Valkyria Chronicles or something, then I'd be excited as hell for future EA games. Oh and EA (and Visceral), if you're not too busy, make The Ripper already, damnit!

 

[synobal]

Please be a resurrection of Star Wars 1313... please please please

I'd be cool with this, I don't really like Starwars but 1313 had my attention, and if she wasn't going to be working on a LOK game I'd be just as happy to see what she could do with a Starwars game, and if I'd end up enjoying it.

 

[vallorn]

The writer of Legacy Of Kain? Okay EA you have my attention, Proceed, and my the god's have mercy upon you if you throttle her with edicts from upon the CEO's money throne.

Seriously if you pull this off EA you might win some of my love back which you have squandered since releasing Mirror's Edge...

 

[Roxas1359]

Only if you assume that the combined corporate meddling of EA and Disney will be non-existant. One will want microtransactions everywhere and the other will want merchandise opportunities for the next Jar Jar Binks.

Disney is actually pretty hands off when it comes to game development, only interfering when they see something that would damage Mickey Mouse's image. They haven't interfered with Kingdom Hearts at all, so it shows they can be lenient. Now we don't know how EA might be when it comes to the games, but we'll see how it goes. As for microtranscations I don't think there really has been any Disney game that has done that, so any of that would probably be more on EA, but again we'll see, Disney could just as easily go full on stupid at any point.

Now if EA plucked the writer (or writers) for a PS3 exclusive game like Valkyria Chronicles or something, then I'd be excited as hell for future EA games.

EA would have to ask SEGA of Japan for that, and if anything is obvious, SEGA of Japan is not a fan of the west much. Heck they aren't much fans of SEGA of America or Europe either and seem really out of touch in general. Look at the whole Shinning Force YouTube removal thing, that was all SEGA of Japan's doing, with SEGA of America and Europe trying to get it undone.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

Still, I'd hoped she'd want to resurrect the stalled Legacy of Kain universe

We can hope, but it'll probably never happen.

OT: Not surprised it didn't take long for someone to snag her up. She's a fantastic writer and any team would be lucky to have her.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Hm...this could be interesting. I will reserve judgment or excitement as there is really no solid game information, but I will be keeping a closer eye on Star Wars games. We shall see.

 

[vallorn]

Still, I'd hoped she'd want to resurrect the stalled Legacy of Kain universe

We can hope, but it'll probably never happen.

Please don't crush my fragile hopes for more glorious Shakespearean prose, vampires and time twisting storylines... Q_Q

 

[Sanunes]

This gives me hope that the next game from Visceral will have a story that I consider more interesting then before. I didn't mind Dead Space 3, but it definitely felt like it was missing what made Dead Space 1 special.

I personally hope that 1313 is dead and buried if they do decide to resurrect it, if they do decide to go back and work on the game they are going to go back all the way to pre-production and work from there instead of trying to continue where the original developers left off. I don't want to see a game that has the same development hell cycle like Duke Nukem Forever and no matter how much they try I think the game will feel like two different teams worked on it.

 

[Zacharious-khan]

you know if a person, say wanted to get revenge on a bunch of nerds for saying mean things to him or her on the internet. I think the best way to do that would be to get in control of a large important movie or video game project and make it as worse as the freaking prequels...

what i'm saying is the Mass Effect audience and the Star wars audience are completely mutually exclusive so please don't