While game developers changing their names is nothing new, generally speaking it's a case of an original name being swallowed up by a larger corporate brand. Not so for EA, with the news that their Redwood Shores Studio (developers of Dead Space and currently working on the sequel, Dead Space: Extraction as well as the new Dante's Inferno and two other unannounced titles) will now be known as Visceral Games.

The Visceral Games team work hard to develop "best-in-breed" action games, packed with state-of-the-art technology, audio, visuals, and of course gameplay. The rebranding has been designed to "better reflect" the studio's identity and culture, and represent their focus on creating intense, action-oriented titles.

Coming under the EA Games Label, Visceral Games is lead by Vice President and General Manager, Glen Schofield, who explains some of the reasons behind the name change:

"Action, intensity, excellence. It isn't just in our DNA, it's in our blood. For the past two years, we have adopted a new culture that prizes excellence above all else. Primal action is the beating heart of the studio and now our new name reflects that."

Above Glen, the studio is managed by Senior Vice President Nick Earl, who also manages the other California-based Games Label studios, including Maxis, Pandemic and EALA.


Dante's Inferno, Dead Space: Extraction
This change will also have a (small) impact on the local Australian game development scene - while Visceral Games is primarily based in Redwood Shores, California (in the same location as EA corporate headquarters and The Sims studio), there is also a branch office Down Under, in Melbourne. Both teams worked closely together on Dead Space, and continue to do so in order to create the next generation of video games. Betcha didn't know that!