EA kills work on C&C: Tiberium squad-based shooter

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
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Kotaku

Following word in July that EA's Command & Conquer-based squad shooter, Tiberium was getting shifted back to 2010, comes word that the game has been officially killed and some staff let go, the publisher confirmed with Kotaku today.

Kotaku obtained a copy of the internal memo sent to staff earlier today outlining the reasons why the game was axed. In the memo Mike Verdu, of EA LA, says that the game would not be able to get up to snuff given the amount of time and resources left in the production cycle.

The memo goes on to state that several people on the team had to be released.

" We will make every effort to place affected individuals on projects within the studio ? and where that isn't possible, to connect them with opportunities in other teams at EA."

More interesting is the fact that Verdu calls for this decision to serve as a warning for future projects.

"The quality bar has been raised. Now we need to step up our focus on great design and execution, catching any problems early and correcting them quickly."

While Electronic Arts declined to comment on the memo, they did verify that the game has been killed.

"EA has suspended work on Tiberium effective immediately," said Mariam Sughayer, EA spokesperson. "The game was not on track to meet the high quality standards set by the team and by the EA Games Label. A lower quality game is not in the best interest of the consumers and would not succeed in this market.

"This decision will result in some individuals being released. However, EA will make every effort to place talented people on other projects. Eligible employees will receive severance and outplacement support."

Sughayer added that EA LA is home to several units of the company including EA Mobile, EA Casual Entertainment Headquarters, EA?s Global Online group and others. At the EA Games Label studio in that facility, developers there are creating Command & Conquer Red Alert 3, a series of titles in development with Steven Spielberg, and other games which have not yet been announced.

I know we can yuck it up over quality and standards at EA but they've been trying to move to better quality games and original IPs after a change in CEOs. Which is why we are seeing the partnership with Valve and original games like Mirrors Edge. They could have done sooo much better with Facebreaker though.