Ex-Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig joins EA to work on Star Wars

Former Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig has joined Electronic Arts to work on a new installment in the Star Wars series with developer Visceral Games. Studio general manager Steve Papoutsis announced the news today on EA's blog. Hennig will be the game's creative director.

"Over the last few weeks, Amy and I have spent a lot of time talking about what her first project would be. There are a lot of different directions we could have gone, but I could sense that what really excited her about this opportunity (because let's face it, we weren't the only ones knocking at her door) was Star Wars," Papoutsis said. "Amy's a huge fan. We happen to be making a Star Wars game. Just thinking about the possibilities made both of us even more excited about having her join the team."

Visceral Games' Star Wars title is rumored to be an open-world game, though EA has yet to provide any details on what form the studio's first title in the sci-fi series will take. EA and Star Wars franchise owner Disney signed a ten-year, multi-title deal last year that makes the Mass Effect publisher the exclusive creator of new Star Wars games. Battlefield developer DICE is currently working on a new Star Wars: Battlefront game.

Hennig got started in games at EA in 1991, when she worked at the company as a game designer/artist. She left EA for Crystal Dynamics in 1995, and worked there for eight years on the Legacy of Kain franchise, among others. Henning left Crystal Dynamics in 2003 and took up the position of creative director at Naughty Dog, where she helped create the Uncharted series as its creative director. She was going to serve as a writer for the new Uncharted game for PlayStation 4, but she left the studio early last month.

It was initially reported that Hennig was "forced out" of Naughty Dog, but the studio would later refute this claim.

Following the announcement today, Hennig explained her move to EA through a series of tweets.

"It might've taken me 23 years, but I'm back--and it's good to be home at EA," she said. "It's a privilege to have the opportunity to contribute to the Star Wars universe, after it's had such a formative influence on my life."

"Two amazing things entered my life in 1977--Star Wars and the Atari 2600," she explained. "This opportunity is the confluence of the two most influential experiences of my youth, and I couldn't be more excited to go on this journey."