Had you told me a year ago that EA would publish not one but three of 2008’s best games, I would have called you a liar and then kindly asked you to stop letting your dog defecate on my perfectly kept lawn. Had you then told me that said three games would all be original IPs and that among them was one of Steven Spielberg’s gaming projects, I would have promptly put on my heaviest pair of boots and kicked you square in the groin for lying even more. And yet here we are. Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge, while not perfect, are far and away two of the most memorable things I’ve played in the past twelve months. Unfortunately, I still haven’t gotten to play Boom Blox but it’s sitting at the very top of a long list of games I need to play before January rolls around. Derrick’s been singing its praises since it came out and the promise of a quality original game for Wii with great single and multiplayer is just plain alluring. I do, after all, want to use my Wii for something.
So it’s with a heavy heart that I tell you good readers that the unofficial EA studio known as Blueprint, the network of designers responsible for Boom Blox, has been dissolved. The news comes to us via a Variety report that, following EA’s recent restructuring and firing of some 6% of its work force (rumored to be close to 600 employees,) every member of the Blueprint team has either been canned or have moved on to greener, more secure pastures. It’s a god damn shame. Not only was Blueprint behind excellent new ideas like Boom Blox, but they were also responsible for aligning Armature with EA. (For anyone who missed their formation, Armature is the new studio made up of former Retro Studios power trio of art director Todd Keller, director Mark Pacini, and engineer Jack Matthews responsible for Metroid Prime.) Word is that Blueprint’s current projects, a rumored Boom Blox 2 and Spielberg’s adventure game known only as LMNO (pictured above,) are still in production, but the tight knit crew behind Boom Blox are no longer in charge of them.
As the Penny Arcade boys put it a couple of weeks back, the fact that EA’s newfound creativity is resulting in creative people losing their jobs means we live in an amoral universe. World? You are a cruel bitch.
(Link: Variety via Gamasutra)
Related links:
Mirror’s Edge: Everything You’ve Heard Is True
The 61FPS Review: Dead Space
The Revolution WILL Be Colorized
Ain't No Party Like A Motion-Control Party