The two top game creators at Electronics Arts Inc.'s studio in Redwood Shores, Calif., which was recently named Visceral Games, have bolted to competitor Activision Blizzard Inc. Glen Schofield, the head of Visceral who also served as creative director on last fall's Dead Space, and Michael Condry, the studio's chief operating officer, will head up a new Northern California studio that Activision is opening in San Mateo, Calif. An EA spokeswoman confirmed the departure, which was first reported on GameSpot. She added that the team at Visceral, which specializes in third-person action-adventure games, will continue work on upcoming titles Dante's Inferno and Dead Space: Extraction, as well as new unannounced titles. Although she declined to elaborate, two sources close to EA told that Visceral's next game would be Jack the Ripper, based on the 19th century British serial killer. It's not clear what the game would involve, but it's a natural follow-up of sorts to Dante's Inferno, which is also based on copyright-free historical material. Dante's Inferno is scheduled to come out in the winter, meaning Jack the Ripper probably won't be released until late 2010 or 2011. EA needn't worry about the departing developers ripping off Jack the Ripper. An Activision representative told GameSpot that its new studio would be working on a game based on one of the publisher's existing franchises.
Secondo quanto riportato dal quotidiano statunitense Los Angeles Times, Visceral Games, il team autore del celebre franchise Dead Space e del prossimo Dante's Inferno, si starebbe dedicando anche ad un nuovo gioco con protagonista Jack lo Squartatore. Lo avrebbero rivelato fonti interne ad EA: secondo le stesse, gli sviluppatori sarebbero in possesso addirittura di materiali storici dell'epoca con lo scopo di studiare meglio il periodo in cui il serial killer è vissuto e ricreare, a tal proposito, una atmosfera quanto più vicina alle vicende vissute allora. Gli scenari dovrebbero rifarsi come stile anche a quelli di Dante's Inferno. Il gioco non vedrebbe la luce prima della fine del 2010 o inizi del 2011; tuttavia allo stato attuale nulla è certo: attendiamo notizie ufficiali da parte di EA o direttamente da Visceral Games.
As you heard this morning, EA’s Visceral Studios is working on a game based on the famous 19th century serial killer, Jack the Ripper. Our sources dropped hints about the title to us back in May, and now is a good as time as any to tell you what we've heard about The Ripper. When you think of Jack the Ripper, you think of a psychopathic serial killer right? Well, what if everything we knew about Jack was wrong? What if Jack the Ripper was actually a good person, killing to save other people’s lives? That’s the Jack our sources tell us you're going to experience in The Ripper. He’s a supernatural slayer protecting people from demons, vampires and other evil monsters. And seeing as how this is Visceral Studios, don’t expect your typical, played-out demons. Instead, imagine a cross between the monsters from Dead Space and Dante’s Inferno. Jack will have an assortment of over-the-top weapons to take on these demons, and we're told gameplay involves a special ability that lets him slow down time, too. That’s all we know for now, and until EA and Visceral decide to officially unveil the title, it may be a while before we get the official word. It's likely they're trying to space out their promotion, as the team just released Dead Space: Extraction and still have Dante's Inferno on the way. They still haven’t even confirmed Dead Space 2, even though we all know it’s happening. What do you all think of this potential re-imagining of Jack the Ripper?
Aggro Vicentin, 07/10/2009 12.05: Personalmente mi attira di più questo jack lo squartatore che dante, sarà perchè mi ha sempre incuriosito come faccenda, ma non vedo l'ora di vedere che cosa riescono a tirarne fuori. Certo pure io spero non sia un dante/gow/dmc, ma più semplicemente un survival horror, magari action, tipo il primo Dead Space.