Industry veteran and former Ubisoft Toronto managing director Jade Raymond has joined up with publisher Electronic Arts, announcing that she will lead an EA-backed development studio in Montreal, Canada.
Raymond will assist in the production of several key Electronic Arts titles, overseeing EA studio Visceral Games in California and working “in close quarters” with Mass Effect and Dragon Age series creator BioWare.
“I cannot think of a more exciting time to be a part of EA than right now,” Raymond wrote. “In the first conversations I had with [EA Studios executive vice president] Patrick Söderlund, we talked about the games we love and the opportunities we saw for the future. We talked about how EA wants to deliver more innovative experiences and more of what players are asking for. It’s energizing to see EA today bringing more passion than ever to the games they make, and passion to getting it right for players.”
Plans for the newly formed Motive Studio include “incubating entirely new IP and taking on some amazing projects,” according to Raymond. Motive Studio will collaborate with Visceral Games in developing a Star Wars-licensed game under the creative direction of Amy Hennig, who previously served as head writer and creative director for Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series.
“I’m a huge fan of the games that have come out of Visceral and I feel honored to be working with such a talented team led by studio GM Scott Probst,” Raymond adds. “I’ve also known Amy for years and have admired her work on the Uncharted games! I’m thrilled that the first big project that we will work on in Montreal will have Amy as Creative Director. An opportunity to work with her and the Visceral team, and to play in the Star Wars universe, is once-in-a-lifetime stuff.”
The Star Wars license is currently a major focus for Electronic Arts. EA DICE is finishing up work on its online multiplayer shooter Star Wars Battlefront ahead of a November release, while BioWare continues to expand its ongoing MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic.
