As revealed by GamesIndustry.biz, Kevin Stephens, who previously worked at Monolith Productions, has been tapped by EA to open a new studio in Seattle to craft open-world action adventures.
Stephens acted as VP and Studio Head at the developer and oversaw the development of the critically beloved and commercially successful Middle Earth games: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. EA has been trying to get a foothold in the genre for a while and cites the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order as displaying fan enthusiasm for the genre.
EA Chief Studios Officer, Laura Miele offered a statement on the new studio, which doesn’t yet have a name:
“Kevin joining forces with Samantha and the incredibly talented teams at Electronic Arts adds even more depth to our creative collective. Kevin is an exceptionally talented game developer leader and we look forward to supporting him while he builds his team. As someone known for his open-world action-adventure games, we know players will be eagerly awaiting more details on this new studio and its projects.”
The game is still a while away as Samantha Ryan, EA Senior VP and Group General Manager, states that they are team are still figuring out a lot of foundational questions, such as what type of games they want to craft and what style, how many they want to make, and how big they will be. So, whilst their games will most likely come to PS5, don’t expect them until the middle of this decade at the earliest.
Source – [GamesIndustry.biz]