Tough situation to grasp.
On one hand, Andromeda evidently had a mess of a development and while it'd be nice to assume sunshine and lollipops over at Visceral it is possible that the project was not progressing well. Perhaps even due to similar reasons to Andromeda; major engine difficulties as Frostbite is cumbersome to work with, over ambitious scope failing to meet deadlines, poor management, etc.
Visceral's track record in recent times is also mixed, both critically and commercially. Dead Space 3, The Devil's Cartel, and Hardline were not outstanding games and it's hard to pinpoint exactly why they faltered. Design and directional issues? Publisher meddling? Poor workflow? Uninspired marketing campaign? Or just bad luck; wrong games at the wrong time? Maybe a little from every category.
On the other hand Visceral's output has been consistent in seeing productions through from start to finish. And while I might feel Dead Space 3 is the weakest in the series, it's not a bad game and still exhibits a high standard of production work. Visceral has consistently supported other studios within EA, notably DICE. And geared up with Hennig and additional management they indeed seemed like a strong pick for taking on the Star Wars franchise. Hennig's experience making Uncharted and Visceral's background in single player narrative shooters is an almost perfect match.
I also don't trust in EA's direction. They're a notoriously erratic publisher, swinging wildly between stubborn adherence to outdated, unethical business, to occasionally reactionary behavior that sees projects uprooted and reworked to take on monetisable, "popular" tropes. They're often "business first", which is the reality of any industry, but the price paid is collapse and closure of developers that seemingly could be salvaged or have been outright treated unfairly. The pit meme is repeated for good reason.
I feel awful for the crew at Visceral seeing the studio wind up in this state. And I feel awful for Hennig who has now fallen from two major projects (assuming they don't drag her across to the next iteration). And regardless of the reasoning behind-the-scenes and who is at fault, it speaks volumes for management and direction at EA that they can acquire one of the biggest franchises in the world and somehow fuck this up. That we've had to wait this long and now longer for a new blockbuster single player Star Wars game is absurd.
