According to a report from Bloomberg, a new IP codenamed Gaia has been canceled by Electronic Arts. Gaia had been in development for nearly six years at Motive Studios in Montreal. The game was never formally announced or given an official title, but a few seconds of gameplay were shown last year during EA Play 2020.
It can be seen at approximately the 1:00 mark, where it was described as a “highly ambitious and innovative new game that puts the power and creativity in your hands.” The footage was a work in progress, and video game industry analyst Daniel Ahmad describes it as the “Assassin’s Creed(-)style action game that EA was working on.”
A few weeks ago, EA called an internal meeting to assess the progress on various projects, including the now canceled Anthem Next and Gaia. The latter reportedly had at least one major reboot sometime during its development, and that may have contributed to its eventual cancellation, along with leadership clashes.
Jade Raymond, who recently left Google’s Stadia Games & Entertainment division, was also a veteran of Ubisoft who oversaw Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs franchises, and she was hired by EA in 2015 to create similar open-world action adventure games. Around that time, EA teased Gaia, but years later, there’s nothing to show for it.
Despite Gaia‘s cancellation, Motive Studios will continue on. The studio’s latest released project, Star Wars: Squadrons, was a success for EA.
