EA sources confirmed today, via GameSpot, that two of Visceral Games' senior employees -- general manager Glen Schofield and COO Michael Condrey -- are leaving the company to work at Activision's new, unnamed San Francisco studio. Both Scofield and Condrey were working on the development of the upcoming Dante's Inferno, when rumors began to surface that the pair planned to leave EA. Further speculation was fueled by Activision's aggressive recruiting of several Visceral staffers.




Tyler says: Visceral Studios (formerly known as Redwood Shores) is EA's "core" development house. That means they'll be making the games that we "hardcore" gamers want to play. They are, after all, responsible for Dead Space, and in addition to Dante's Inferno and Dead Space Extraction, Visceral has two other unannounced titles in development.

While I'm sure Scofield and Condrey will provide Activision's new studio with a wealth of talent, I can't help but think of the employees at Visceral Games, and how they lost two visionary guys (Scofield, for one, is credited as being a major player in getting Dead Space greenlit). On the bright side, at least Activision's new studio probably won't be making music games. I fully expect Activision to try and squeeze some new hardcore-style games out of its collective imagination.