Electronic Arts has reportedly pulled the plug Gaia, a game that has been in development for the past six years at Motive Studios in Montréal. According to Bloomberg, the IP has been canceled due to a "resource shift" after the company reconsidered the projects it is currently developing.
Sources told Bloomberg that Gaia's development had been "turbulent" and that the title had undergone at least one "major reboot." The project was reportedly greenlit when Jade Raymond joined EA in 2015 to head up its newly launched Motive Studios.
In an interview with IGN at the time, EA's then executive vice president Patrick Söderlund mentioned that EA hoped to expand its portfolio with "gigantic action games like Assassin's Creed or Batman or GTA." According to Bloomberg News, while part of Motive worked on Star Wars Battlefront II, the other part worked on Gaia, yet once Battlefront II was shipped, its developers joined the Gaia team in 2018.
However, Motive, which merged with Bioware Montréal in 2017, experienced "cultural clashes" that led to the resignation of lead game directors. Gaia was finally announced at an EA Play in June 2020, where it introduced as "a highly ambitious, innovative new game that puts the power and creativity in your hands" and an "experience that would have been impossible without next-gen technology."
Earlier this month, EA also canceled a reboot of Anthem, an online multiplayer action RPG developed by BioWare that was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PS4 and Xbox One on February 22, 2019. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who panned its repetition, technical aspects and story.
Asked by Bloomber for comment, EA spokesperson John Reseburg said, “We have a deep and robust pipeline of new content with more than 35 new games in various levels of incubation and development.” He added that Motive Studios, which has found success with Star Wars Squadrons, a fighter ship simulator that was released last fall, remains unaffected by Gaia's cancellation.
Source: GamesIndustry