EA has reportedly closed its secretive “Blueprint” division, with creating new game ideas and intellectual properties, according to an
unconfirmed report from Hollywood trade paper Variety.
Blueprint has rarely been acknowledged by EA, though Gamasutra
reported details as part of an interview discussing the formation of
new studio Armature. At the time EA spokesperson Tammy Schacter described Blueprint as "a studio not defined by location".
Originally founded by Neil Young, but later overseen by Lou Castle, Blueprint was part of the EA Games label, with the only confirmed titles being Steven Spielberg’s
Boom Blox and the still-secret
LMNO.
Variety claims that all corporate employees working for Blueprint have now either left the company, been laid off or moved onto other projects within EA. Citing only an unnamed former employee, the report says that Blueprint employed only a dozen people as part of an attempt to champion smaller teams and distributed development.
It is further suggested that no projects have been canceled as a result of the demise of Blueprint. Indeed the Variety source suggests that a new project, currently referred to as
Boom Blox 2, will be produced as a direct result of the work at the division.
